[Photo] US Treasury asks S. Korean banks to follow UN sanctions just after Pyongyang summit

It has been confirmed that the US Department of the Treasury directly contacted South Korea’s government and commercial banks and asked for compliance regarding UN sanctions on North Korea. Instances of the US Department of the Treasury directly contacting individual South Korean banks are extremely rare. According to insiders in the financial industry, the US Treasury Department called seven banks -- including the state-owned Korea Development Bank and the Industrial Bank of Korea as well as the commercial banks Kookmin, Shinhan and Nonghyup -- and held a conference call on Sept. 20-21, directly after the inter-Korean Pyongyang summit on Sept. 19.