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S. Korea denies U.S. asked it to help financially isolate N. Korea+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)SEOUL, Jan. 25_(Kyodo) _ South Korea on Wednesday criticized the U.S. Embassy for telling media that a U.S. Treasury Department delegation had urged Seoul to step up its efforts to curb North Korea's counterfeiting and other illicit activity.
"It is inappropriate for the U.S. to have issued such a press release that does not reflect the exact result of the discussions with South Korea," Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu Ho said in a statement carried by Yonhap News Agency.
"The U.S. statement exaggerates some of the contents discussed," Choo said, referring to a U.S. Embassy press release issued after the Treasury delegation's four-day visit.
According to the press release, Daniel Glaser, deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at the Treasury Department, had "urged (South) Korea to further strengthen its regime in the area of weapons of mass destruction proliferation by focusing efforts to financially isolate WMD proliferators and their support network."
But Choo said the U.S. delegation only spoke of the need for "general cooperation" to crack down on illegal financial activities and terrorism-related transfers, and did not urge Seoul to take concrete measures against North Korea either officially or unofficially on that connection.
Yonhap quoted an unidentified senior Foreign Ministry official as saying the ministry "delivered a protest message to the U.S. side" after it came under media and public fire for having kept the contents of the meeting with the U.S. delegation under raps.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Robert Ogburn refused to disclose how the United States replied to Seoul's protest except to say, "We stand by the statement" that was issued Tuesday, according to Yonhap.
The United States slapped sanctions on a bank in Macao last September, alleging it helped North Korea distribute counterfeit currency and engaged in other illicit activity. In October, sanctions were also imposed against eight North Korean companies allegedly involved in proliferating weapons of mass destruction.
North Korea has denied the allegations and refused to resume six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program until U.S. financial sanctions are lifted. The talks involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
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