View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

3/19/2020

G7 Finance Ministers Joint Statement on North Korea | U.S. Department of the Treasury

G7 Finance Ministers Joint Statement on North Korea
April 18, 2018

North Korea’s continued development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic
missile programs poses a grave threat to international peace and security. We remain
committed to the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean
peninsula and dismantlement of North Korea’s WMD and ballistic missile programs, but North
Korea must match its words with concrete actions. To support this goal, we will continue to take
action to impose maximum economic pressure on North Korea, in keeping with relevant United
Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs).
We are concerned by North Korea’s evasion of international sanctions and its continued ability
to access the international financial system. North Korea does little business in its own true
name and uses a network of agents, front and shell companies, and complex ownership
structures to access the international financial system.
As the UN Panel of Experts (PoE) noted in its March 2018 report, in 2017, more than 30
representatives of North Korean banks have been operating outside of North Korea, in
contravention of UNSCRs. The PoE also noted that DPRK trade representatives continue to play
a role in the country’s prohibited programs, including by acting as fronts for designated entities
and individuals, as well as engaging in commercial activities that violate the UNSCRs. We call on
all countries to fully and e ectively implement their UNSCR obligations with respect to North
Korea and, in this regard, to expeditiously expel these bank and trade representatives in
accordance with their UN obligations.
Financial institutions in G7 countries also play an important role in the fight against North
Korea’s illicit global financial activity, and we will engage and share information with them, as
appropriate, to expose North Korea’s deceptive financial practices and thereby protect the
integrity of the international financial system. We call on countries to similarly engage their
financial institutions so they will be on alert and take steps to implement necessary additional
scrutiny to ensure that they are not processing transactions on behalf of sanctioned North
Korean entities.
####
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm0350

1/2

3/19/2020

G7 Finance Ministers Joint Statement on North Korea | U.S. Department of the Treasury

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm0350

2/2