This really shouldn’t be surprising news to anyone:

A U.S. diplomatic cable provided to WikiLeaks suggested that North Korea likely received payment for weapons sales to Iran via a Seoul-based branch of an Iranian bank blacklisted for aiding Iran’s nuclear weapons programs.

According to the cable dated March 24, 2008, which was released on Sunday by the Norwegian daily Aftenposten, “Hong Kong Electronics,” an Iranian-based enterprise, wired a total of $2.5 million to Bank Mellat’s Seoul branch from its account in a Iranian bank, called Parsian.

Hong Kong Electronics is known to be a fictitious firm of Tanchon Commercial Bank, which is in charge of financial support for the communist state’s overseas arms exports. As a result, observers here believe the $2.5 million payment to have been made after the North sold weapons to the Middle East state.

The money was wired in euros in three occasions in November 2007, and $1.5 million of it was remitted to bank accounts in China and Russia, according to the cable.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link, but it just begs the question on why more vigorous financial sanctions are not being pursued against the North Koreans to shut down banks like this one operating in Seoul?