Korea Chair Monitor | Vol 4 Issue 8

June 3, 2016

U.S.-ROK RELATIONS | U.S. Treasury Designates DPRK as "Primary Money Laundering Concern"
On June 1, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced a Notice of Finding that the DPRK is a jurisdiction of “primary money laundering concern” under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, giving the secretary of treasury the authority to take special measures.

REGIONAL RELATIONS | DPRK Senior Official Visits China
On May 31, Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Worker’s Party of Korea and director of the party's International Department, arrived in Beijing for a three-day trip to China. On May 31, he met Song Tao, the minister of International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, and on June 1, he met Chinese president Xi Jinping, the first time in three years that Xi has met a senior-level DPRK official since Choe Ryong-hae in 2013.

GLOBAL RELATIONS | President Park Visits Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya
From May 25 to 31, ROK president Park Geun-hye paid state visits to three African nations—Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya—to explore economic and diplomatic opportunities. In all three nations, she launched a new developmental program called “Korean Aid,” hosted “K-Culture” events, and signed numerous MOUs in the areas of trade, technology, and science to improve cooperation.