Hill Says North Counterfeited Millions

Christopher Hill , the chief U.S. delegate to the six-party talks and the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State in charge of East Asia and the Pacific, said on Tuesday, "I believe the scope of North Korea’s counterfeiting amount to millions of dollars. I saw the ‘supernotes’ (precisely counterfeited U.S. $100 notes) myself," regarding the controversy over whether North Korea is counterfeiting U.S. dollars.

At a meeting with South Korean reporters in Washington D.C., Hill called for North Korea to stop counterfeiting U.S. dollars immediately and added, "Although the location and the timing have not been worked out, the U.S. government is ready to brief North Korea on the evidence it has linking it to the counterfeiting of U.S. currency."

Hill remarked that despite North Korea`s strong protest against U.S. financial sanctions, the U.S. government has the duty to protect U.S. currency, and asked a question in return, "Wouldn`t any country take action if its currency was being counterfeited?"

Hill also requested no linkage of the issue of fake dollar bills to the six-party talks, in light of the cancellation of the summit between the U.S. and North Korea on financial sanctions.

He said, "Illicit activities such as counterfeiting are different in nature from the six-party talks. Law enforcement matters are not six-party talks or diplomatic issues."

In his response to the question regarding a deadline for the fifth second-level round of six-party talks, he said, "I do not have a deadline set, but this is not a matter that can wait forever. North Korea needs to carry out its promise, made in Beijing in September, to denuclearize and join the talks soon."

Hill also said, "I am considering visiting Korea after I visit China next January,” adding, “It is true that the New York channels of communication, which have been used during difficult times between the U.S. and North Korea in the past, have been quiet, but I am not pessimistic about the New York channels, and I believe we can still use them to work together.”