U.S. Sanctions Expected to Hit Small Banks’ Business With North Korea

The United States Treasury Department imposed sanctions on all foreign institutions and so, Chinese banks in particular stand to lose billions since the main goal of the sanctions are to essential cripple the North Korean market. The Treasury Department, under the Patriot Act, designated North Korea as a "primary money-laundering concern" and this give Washington the ability to be extremely aggressive in its efforts to cut down North Korea's access to American money, directly or indirectly (through China). The long and short of the matter is that non-American banks/other entities are banned from "conducting dollar transactions om behalf of North Korea". Major Chinese banks and even smaller regional banks in China have suspended North Korean accounts and even closed them. The Chinese government openly stated they are opposed to the Treasury Department's actions, but according to Jin Qiangyi, dean of the institute of Northeast Asian Studies at Yanbian University in Yanji, "the cost of sanctions by the U.S. would far outweigh the benefits of such commercial ties". I think the U.S. is in a sense bullying other countries into not "playing" with North Korea and I doubt it will be good for International Relations since it reinforces the tone that "the U.S. can do what it wants". however, I more than recognize the need to hinder North Korea's efforts at financing their military projects, particularly their WMDs.

-by Tyler Linthakhanh

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/04/world/asia/us-sanctions-expected-to-hit-small-banks-business-with-north-korea.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0