Daesong Bank

Korea Daesong Bank
조선 대성 은행

Industry	Bank
Headquarters	Segori-dong, Gyongheung St., Potonggang District[1], Pyongyang, North Korea

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

The Korea Daesong Bank is reportedly controlled by Room 39.^[6]

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.^[6] Kwon Yong-nok was an auditor of the Golden Star Bank.^[7]

"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."^[8]

Projects

• In 1989, it was to jointly develop the area around Mount Kumgang,^[9] on the eastern coast of North Korea, as a tourist site with Hyundai.^[10]
• The company has been implicated in the smuggling of arms into and out of North Korea^[11] and "Involved in facilitating proliferation financing projects."^[12]

Members

• In 1989, Choe Su Gil, president of the Taesong Bank of North Korea^[10] and consultant to the Korean Association for the Promotion of Asian Trade.^[9]
• In 2014, Kim Yeo Jong took control of Taesong Bank, the Reunification and Development Bank, and a number of tourism and railway projects^[13]
• In 2014, Yun Tae Hyong, a regional manager in the Russian Far East for the Taesong Bank, defected to Russia.^[3]

References

1. "OFAC ID: 12312". Retrieved 26 May 2015.
2. "Recent OFAC Actions - November 18, 2010". US Treasury Department. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
3. Madden, Michael (3 September 2014). "A Senior North Korean Banking Official Defects?". 38 North. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
4. "コリア・デソン・バンク" (PDF) (in Japanese). Retrieved 26 May 2015.
5. 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."
6. Timothée Germain. "Mapping North Korea Proliferation". cesim.fr. THE NON-PROLIFERATION MONTHLY. p. 7. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
7. "North Korean Policy Elites; see footnote 66". INSTITUE FOR DEFENSE ANALYSES. June 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
8. "Room (Bureau) 38 allegedly restored". North Korean Economic Watch. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
9. "South, North Koreans Talk of Tourism Venture". Los Angeles Times. February 2, 1989. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
10. SUSAN CHIRA (2 February 1989). "THE TWO KOREAS AGREE TO DEVELOP RESORT IN NORTH". New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
11. "Report of the Panel of Experts established pursuant to resolution 1874 (2009)" (PDF). United Nations. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
12. "Sanctions: UK Treasury part 29; Sanctions in Action". UK Treasury. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
13. "Kim appoints his younger sister to manage party coffers instead of slain uncle". Sputinik News. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2015.