Investigations Have Never Been Made For a Bank to Mediate BDA
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in South Korea, Song Min Soon revealed on the 7th, “Our government does not consider the BDA case simply as a financial issue but will respond with strategic forward-looking measures.”
At a general meeting of Unification Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee of the National Assembly, Minister Song said, “We are making extra efforts to ensure that it (February 13 Agreement) does not fall into an intractable situation.”
On receiving a question regarding the plan to employ the Export-Import Bank of Korea to solve the BDA issue, the Foreign Minister said, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has never conducted investigations on this matter” and added, “If this proposal is suitable and the other countries agree, it is a plan that may be considered.”
In relation to this, Park Sun Won, the Blue House’s Secretary of Security visited the U.S. at the end of last month making a proposal which employed the Export-Import Bank of Korea in solving the BDA issue. Regarding this visit, one report revealed the response of the Blue House, “The truth is different.”
Furthermore, Minister Song said regarding the BDA issue, “It will be resolved before our patience is overextended” and “Specific cases are being considered in order to solve the BDA issue.”
Further, the minister explained, “North Korea thinks that it will receive the funds in BDA breaking through the blocs in the international financial market, however each country has their own terms and conditions. We are in the process of satisfying these conditions.”
Regarding this, the Unification Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee has been pressuring the South Korean government to make proposals as the BDA issue continues on and no signs of future prospects are seen.
Minister Park Jin of the Grand National party said, “Of the 52 North Korean accounts caught in BDA, only 35 are legitimate. The remainder 17 are the problematic ones” and that “11 of the problematic accounts are illegal accounts based in Macau with falsified names where the rest are accounts related to weapons of mass destruction.”
Then he criticized, “What kind of respective financial institution in any country throughout the world would mediate these accounts caught in this issue.” In relation to a solution, Minster Park questioned, “Are the rumors suggesting change to BDA”s board of directors true?”
Another minister of the Grand National Party Kim Yong Gab said, “From the beginning of the February 13 Agreement, North Korea has been asking for the return of funds fixed in BDA. Now, North Korea is seeking an extreme request by demanding that it is given the opportunity to conduct normal transactions on the international financial market” and added, North Korea has “overstepped the February 13 Agreement by this act alone.”
Minister Lee Kang Rae, an independent politician, said, “The U.S. is considering restoring the frozen funds and this North Korea obviously sees as an opportunity to perform on the international financial system” and placed responsibility on the U.S., “If the U.S. had clearly denied this from the beginning, the situation would not have come this far…”
On June 4 and 5, Korean, U.S. and Chinese foreign ministers discussed in a 3 party telephone conference, “Let’s quickly find a plan that accommodates the requests of all the parties.”
