U.S. Indicts Dozens of Chinese, North Korean Agents for Funding Nuclear Program

The United States Justice Department indicted over two dozen North Koreans and five Chinese individuals on charges of laundering over $2.5 billion in illegal payments towards Pyongyang’s nuclear program, the Washington Post reported Thursday. According to the 50-page indictment, it is alleged that the individuals worked as agents for North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank (FTB), a sanctioned entity that holds the majority of the regime’s foreign currency reserves. In what is the largest North Korean sanctions violations case brought by the U.S., agents are accused of creating over 250 front companies and covert bank branches around the world to funnel through payments passing through the American financial system.-- More...