U.S. Ambassador Calls North Korea a “Criminal Regime”

U.S. Ambassador Calls North Korea a “Criminal Regime”. December. 08, 2005 02:59. by Jung-Ahn Kim credo@donga.com.

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow slammed North Korea as a criminal regime yesterday, saying, “The financial sanctions against the North are not an issue capable of being resolved with political gestures.”

In a discussion meeting hosted by the Kwanhun Club held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the same day, Vershbow said, “Under the circumstances, where the North is trafficking in drugs and counterfeiting U.S. dollars, these issues cannot be resolved by political gestures,” adding, “Washington has succeeded in stopping some illegal activities committed by Pyongyang through the sanctions (which resulted in the closure of the North’s accounts in the bank) the U.S. imposed on the Macao-based Banco Delta Asia Bank.”

Vershbow continued on to say, “The North’s nuclear plant in Yongbyon has never produced electricity,” adding, “The U.S. is still skeptical of the provision of light-water reactor being the most effective aid to remedy the North’s energy shortage, even after the North rejoins the NPT and implements the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s safeguards.”