Chinese Banks Probed Over Aid to North Korea’s Nuclear Arms
- U.S. investigates hundreds of millions of dollars in dealings
- Suspected link to North Korean weapons revealed for first time
People watch a television broadcast showing a file footage of North Korea's missile launch, in Seoul on Aug. 6.
Photographer: Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. is investigating hundreds of millions of dollars in financial transactions involving three big Chinese banks that allegedly helped finance North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, according to an appeals court opinion unsealed Tuesday.
The July 30 ruling upheld an earlier order by a Washington district-court judge directing the banks to comply with subpoenas for information about the transactions. The appeals court said prosecutors don’t “currently” suspect the Chinese banks of knowingly breaking the law but that the banks “hold records that the United States government thinks may clarify how North Korea finances its nuclear weapons program.”