Remember North Korea?

It was in all the papers. And still hasn’t gone away. I seem to remember that it had another missile on the launching pad. Whatever became of that?

This seems to be a step in the right direction:

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – China has frozen North Korean accounts at the Bank of China after the United States imposed financial restrictions against the North for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering, a South Korean lawmaker said Monday.

The U.S. restrictions against Macau-based Banco Delta Asia imposed last September have been a key sticking point in a resumption of international talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, with the communist nation refusing to return to the negotiations until Washington lifts its freeze on disputed North Korean assets in the bank.

On Monday, Park Jin of South Korea’s main opposition Grand National Party claimed that Bank of China also froze North Korean assets in its Macau branch in connection with the U.S. move.

Park learned the information from U.S. officials during a visit to Washington last week, said his aide, who declined to be named.

Bank of China officials in Beijing and Macau were not immediately reachable for comment. China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.