[imText1]North Korea has been producing “super notes,” counterfeit 100-dollar bills practically indistinguishable from legal tender, even since 2007 when the U.S. released North Korea from financial sanctions. North Korea has also tried to bring some of the notes into South Korea.
A South Korean diplomatic source in Washington D.C. revealed that, “South Korea and the U.S. discovered a North Korean gang trying to smuggle super notes into South Korea in November of last year and have been examining the case. Both countries have been paying close attention to it because the case could affect relations with North Korea. As soon as the current discussion in the U.N. Security Council is concluded, strong financial sanctions are likely to be imposed on North Korea.”
The Foreign Affairs Division of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency arrested one Mr. Kim, a Mr. An and two other persons on suspicion of smuggling 9904 sheets of “super notes” into South Korea in November, 2008.
Both the Secret Service of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and South Korean Ministry of Justice have been chasing the international distribution network of the counterfeit notes.
Super notes produced by North Korea were first found in Manila in 1989, while North Korean cadres who tried to put 250,000 dollars in super notes into an account at Banco Delta Asia in Macao were arrested in 1994.
According to a news article released in Tuesday’s Washington Post, a department under the Workers’ Party produces the super notes in Pyongsung, South Pyongan Province and Oh Se Won, the son of Oh Keuk Ryul, Vice-Chairman of the National Defense Commission, is closely involved in the counterfeiting business.
