How has such a small amount of money become such a sticking point?
The money is, in a sense, only the visible part of a broader problem. Dozens of North Korean government departments do their international business through a bank in Macau called Banco Delta Asia. But in September 2005, the US Treasury accused BDA of being a conduit for laundering money for Pyongyang, triggering severe limits on the bank’s dealings with US financial institutions – and a freeze on $25m of North Korean money in the bank’s accounts. According to the Treasury, BDA was a “willing pawn” of North Korea, helping process as much as $500m a year in dirty money without asking awkward questions. The move sent relations between Washington, DC and Pyongyang – frosty at the best of times – into the deep freeze. Between then and now, the $25m became a tool for the US to achieve a deal on North Korea’s ambitions for nuclear weapons – and an excuse for North Korea to stall. So has a deal been reached now? Yes, in February this year. North Korea pledged to give up its nuclear reprocessin
