Korea Taesong Bank (Korean: 조선 대성 은행;[2] sometimes called Daesong Bank, Dae-Sung Bank[3] or Taesong General Trading Corporation;[4] in Japan called Chosun Tae Seong-Unhan; Tae-bank, Choson Taesong Unhaeng[5]) is a North Korean financial institution.[6]

Korea Taesong Bank
Native name
조선대성은행
IndustryBank
HeadquartersSegori-dong, Gyongheung St., Potonggang District[1],
Pyongyang
,
North Korea
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
대성은행
Hancha
大成銀行
Revised RomanizationDaeseong eunhaeng
McCune–ReischauerTaesŏng ŭnhaeng

The Korea Taesong Bank is reportedly controlled by Room 39.[7][3]

The Golden Star Bank, founded as a corporation in Vienna, Austria, was the only North Korean bank in Europe but was closed in 2004, was a subsidiary of the Taesong Bank.[7] Kwon Yong-nok was an auditor of the Golden Star Bank.[8]

"Taesong Bank, which received remittances from Mt. Kumgang tourism, is controlled by Room 39, and is also in charge of the exports of agricultural and fisheries products."[9]

Projects

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  • In 1989, it was to jointly develop the area around Mount Kumgang,[10] on the eastern coast of North Korea, as a tourist site with Hyundai.[11]
  • The company has been implicated in the smuggling of arms into and out of North Korea[12] and "Involved in facilitating proliferation financing projects."[13]

Members

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  • In 1989, Choe Su-gil, president of the Taesong Bank of North Korea[11] and consultant to the Korean Association for the Promotion of Asian Trade.[10]
  • In 2014, Kim Yo-jong took control of Taesong Bank, the Reunification and Development Bank, and a number of tourism and railway projects[citation needed]
  • In 2014, Yun Tae-hyong, a regional manager in the Russian Far East for the Taesong Bank, defected to Russia.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "OFAC ID: 12312". Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Recent OFAC Actions - November 18, 2010". US Treasury Department. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b "How North Korea uses slaves to get around trade sanctions". Business Insider. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  4. ^ a b Madden, Michael (3 September 2014). "A Senior North Korean Banking Official Defects?". 38 North. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  5. ^ "コリア・デソン・バンク" (PDF) (in Japanese). Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  6. ^ Michael Breen (author) Kim Jong-Il, Revised and Updated: Kim Jong-il North Korea's Dear Leader 2012 1118153774 "Kim Jong-il: "the Daesong Group, which owns the Daesong Bank and the Vienna-based Golden Star Bank."
  7. ^ a b Timothée Germain. "Mapping North Korea Proliferation". cesim.fr. THE NON-PROLIFERATION MONTHLY. p. 7. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  8. ^ "North Korean Policy Elites; see footnote 66" (PDF). INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES. June 2004. Archived from the original on June 24, 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Room (Bureau) 38 allegedly restored". North Korean Economic Watch. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  10. ^ a b "South, North Koreans Talk of Tourism Venture". Los Angeles Times. February 2, 1989. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  11. ^ a b SUSAN CHIRA (2 February 1989). "THE TWO KOREAS AGREE TO DEVELOP RESORT IN NORTH". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  12. ^ "Report of the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution 1874 (2009)" (PDF). United Nations, Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Sanctions: UK Treasury part 29; Sanctions in Action". UK Treasury. 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.