By Here is a perfect example of smart sanctions if they are pursued rigorously:
An Austrian businessman and Korean intermediary are being investigated over the sale of luxury yachts and cars apparently destined for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, prosecutors said on Friday.
Austrian prosecutors’ spokesman Gerhard Jarosch said the deal involving two yachts, seven Mercedes saloons and some musical instruments violated U.N. sanctions against Kim’s isolated Stalinist state imposed over its nuclear bomb tests.
Italy said on Tuesday it had broken up the sale with the help of Austrian investigators and seized two yachts meant for Kim. The status of the cars and instruments was unclear.
“An investigation has been launched against an Austrian businessman and a Korean middleman, who may be North Korean, over this illegal order. The offence is punishable by up two years in prison,” Jarosch said. [Reuters]
The best part of this story is that Kim Jong-il has lost out of $18 million which is a big sum for North Korea. I don’t know if the US Treasury Department tipped off European authorities or not about this transcation, but if they did this shows how sanctions targeted solely at the regime elite can have an effect.
6:04 pm on July 24th, 2009 1
They have most probably not lost 18 Mio. USD on this deal. Austrian newspapers report that the Italian authorities have impounded the yachts and the deposit. The deposit is said to be about half of the price and was supposedly paid by the Austrian businessman who is now under investigation. No word on whether it was North Korean money or if the businessman advanced the money. One newspaper reports that he has been involved in trade with North Korea before but that time he was selling less glamourous generators.
12:17 pm on July 25th, 2009 2
The sale should have been allowed with the ballast made of high explosives. After delivery a remote explosion somewhere in North Korea?