London-based fund asks U.S. to unfreeze shares: source

Funds were part of N.K. assets frozen at Banco Delta Asia

Colin McAskill, 65, chairman of the London-based Koryo Asia Ltd, which in August agreed to purchase 70 percent of shares in North Korea’s Daedong Credit Bank (DCB), has reportedly urged the U.S. State Department to lift a ban on the DCB’s US$6 million held at Macao-based Banco Delta Asia.

Koryo Asia is advisor to the London-based Chosun Development & Investment Fund LP, which is attempting to raise US$50 million in investments in order to tap into North Korea’s abundant natural resources sector. Koryo Asia struck a deal with DCB to buy the bank despite the bank’s Macao assets being frozen.

A source in Washington said that McAskill told U.S. officials that since the DCB is a bank exclusively for foreigners, the DCB fund deposited at Banco Delta Asia is legal and the U.S. measure is wrong. The U.S. last fall cited Banco Delta Asia as an institution suspected of dealing with North Korean funds obtained through illegal measures, leading the bank to freeze all its North Korean assets.

"Treasury Department officials that were supposed to take part in the explanatory meeting [called by McAskill on October 5]...didn’t participate in it, and Anthony Ruggiero, an official of the State Department that participated in the meeting, spoke critically about a deal between Koryo Asia and North Korea," added the source.

"McAskill is going to urge Banco Delta Asia to return the frozen funds," the source continued.