WASHINGTON, March 22 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was instrumental in allowing North Korea to access assets in Macao's Banco Delta Asia, a newspaper reported Thursday.
Last week, the U.S. Treasury designated the Macao bank as a financial institution that was helping Pyongyang profit from drugs, missiles and other illegal trades worldwide. As a result, Treasury not only froze the regime's account worth about $25 million, but also banned any U.S. company or citizen doing business with the bank.
The Financial Times reported, however, that chief U.S. negotiator with North Korea Christopher Hill persuaded the secretary of state that the United States should allow Pyongyang to access the funds in order to achieve the broader goal of denuclearizing the regime. The London daily added that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson agreed to overrule his department's terrorist financing division and instead follow the State Department's suggestion.
