Who knows if this is true or not because it is the Korea Times afterall, but the reason for the Kang Nam I turning around last week and heading back towards North Korea is apparently because the US was able to convince the Malaysian government to target North Korean accounts in their banks:

The transaction of North Korea’s suspected shipment of weapons to Myanmar, currently being carried on a freighter tracked by the U.S. Navy, was planned to be paid through a bank in Malaysia and the visit by a U.S. envoy to Malaysia this weekend will focus on ways to cut off the payment transaction, Yonhap reported Saturday citing an unnamed “high-level” source.

“Kim Jong-il will have a hard time collecting his money,” the high-level source said, speaking strictly on condition of anonymity. The source declined to identify the bank due to diplomatic concerns.

Philip Goldberg, the U.S. coordinator for the implementation of a U.N. Security Council resolution that punishes North Korea for its May 25 nuclear test, is scheduled to arrive in Malaysia on Sunday.

The visit comes after the White House said late last month that U.S. President Barack Obama discussed North Korea and financial regulations with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razakon by phone.  [Korea Times]

Once again if this is true, this just goes to show that financial sanctions if vigorously pursued can work.  It appears that the Obama administration is serious about implementing them which is good to see.  Now lets hope that they don’t lose their nerve like the Bush administration did when Pyongyang starts getting more belligerent and then signs on to agreements they have no intention of keeping.