Comments on: Pyongyang’s dirty money on the run (and who is Nigel Cowie?)

By: The Marmot’s Hole » Blog Archive » Seoul refuses to let Norks open bank account in Gaeseong…

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 09:35:34 +0000

[...] Everyone’s favorite British sap visionary banker in Pyeongyang must be a happy guy right now. He just avoided having a little competition (Yonhap): North Korea sought to open an account with a South Korean bank at an inter-Korean industrial complex in its border town of Kaesong* last year, but the South Korean bank rejected the request, officials at the Unification Ministry said Tuesday. [...]

By: The Korea Liberator » Kim Jong Il Unplugged, Part 5

The Korea Liberator » Kim Jong Il Unplugged, Part 5 — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 03:22:32 +0000

[...] Somewhere, the world’s smallest violin is playing an adagio for Nigel Cowie, although I still count Switzerland and Luxemburg as two countries that may yet harbor North Korean accounts. I also recommend Andy Jackson’s post here, which discusses North Korea’s most “legitimate” banker. Cowie and his constituency of defenders in the comments probably set a record for most uses of the word “legitimate” per column inch, which I suppose depends on how you define the term. Whether Cowie is laundering money, wittingly or otherwise, is a matter I’ll leave to the Treasury Department, since there’s really little point in speculating in a factual vacuum about an investigation I can only assume to be ongoing, based on the media reports. You may also choose to accept Cowie’s explanation of why his bank’s “legitimate” transactions are conducted with large bundles of cash. Third, there are good reasons why much of the international trade of the DPRK for these sorts of goods is cash-based. This relates mainly to the fact that the local currency is not convertible (and indeed we do not handle local currency), so imported goods are bought and sold for hard currency. The absence of the normal system of reciprocal correspondent bank accounts that exists in other countries which enables transactions to be settled by electronic book entry; the shortage of liquidity in the local market, which means that people are reluctant to deposit money in banks because they don’t know when they’ll be able to get the money out, so they would rather carry cash - and so on. This is quite a big subject in itself, and I have done a separate paper on this issue, but the bottom line is that people do tend to transact largely in cash, which in itself is not illegal - in this market, it is in fact often the only way. [...]

By: Brendon Carr

Brendon Carr — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 15:16:44 +0000

Nigel Cowie is a legitimate banker! (Is there such a beast? We’re treading into the realm of the unprovable, like “honest lawyer” and “military intelligence”.) I met him once about 10 years ago in the North, and a second time here in Seoul, and each time found Nigel to be a charming and knowledgable gentleman. In fact, I’d rather like to have had his adventure — which is why I follow these stories about Daedong Credit Bank with interest. Only problem for me is I’d rather eat a hamburger for lunch every day, so I would only last a week in Pyongyang. My comment in #8, above, could easily be applied to all the other “Korea hands” — to include my own self as I am now in my 10th year of practice as a foreign lawyer here. I’ve always been astonished by the accounts of those hardy souls who’ve lived in Pyongyang for a long time, such as are to be found in Michael Harrold’s “Comrades and Strangers” and the unpublished Andrew Holloway memoir “A Year in Pyongyang” (these men were contemporaries, and it’s interesting to see their takes on the same colleagues), and then I realize I’ve been living in Korea since 1990. (There were fewer hamburgers then.) And the same cast of characters either never leave or they come back: The rate of recidivism here is worse than the state penitentiary!

By: Are You NKay? :: Banking in Vietnam :: August :: 2006 The North Korean Human Rights Movement from the perspective of a LiNK member

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 15:03:37 +0000

[...] It’s already been done (Via. The Marmot’s Hole) WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (Yonhap) — Vietnamese banks have already closed down North Korean accounts over the past few weeks, most likely forcing Pyongyang to move its money to its last remaining haven, Russia, said Peter Beck, head of the International Crisis Group’s Seoul office, on Tuesday. [...]

By: luweiqd

luweiqd — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 14:43:27 +0000

As with OhMyBlog / Brendan, Nigel Cowie is legitimate, he worked in Seoul before getting involved in Daedong Credit Bank, which is one of only two foreign JV banks in the North, providing old fashioned banking services (in what would be difficult circumstances) to the few foreign companies operating in the DPRK. The US would do better to chase the North’s own money (as opposed to that of a few foreigners), which is more likely clearing to Switzerland through Russia and China, I would fancy.

By: gammazamma

gammazamma — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 14:10:57 +0000

Nigel Cowie is KJI’s son you never knew of disguised as a white man. Surgically altered and all. Come on~ didn’t you guys watch 007:Die Another Day?

By: seouldout

seouldout — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:47:56 +0000

That’s why he’s hangin’ with the Dear Leader, you weakling mortals!

I just spit up my samgyetang on mu keivoard

By: Andy Jackson

Andy Jackson — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:03:27 +0000

OMB,
I think that a prerequisite for criticizing a post is actually reading it. At no point did I say that Cowie was a special operative and I made it pretty clear that I did not think that he was knowingly running counterfiet bills.

Climate,
Point?

In general,
I have a feeling that I might have touched a nerve with this post (folks are sensative about their money and perhaps a few people with the right colored ties are offended). Perhaps we will soon see a comment linking me to the JonBenet Ramsey case.

In any case, it seems we have a few votes for #2 (capitalist reformer).

By: Brendon Carr

Brendon Carr — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 11:57:56 +0000

There are a number of people bouncing around Seoul who work with the North. Most of them are folks who, once having had a portion of their youth (and sanity) stolen by the North, continue at it because otherwise it would be an admission that the previous time was a waste.

By: Robert Koehler

Robert Koehler — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 11:50:24 +0000

Andy? Republican? Shocking…

That being said, Mr. Jackson, I haven’t read yet that the accounts shut down in Vietnam were involved in illegal activity. I mean, one might assume that to be the case, and I trust people who do business with the North as little as the next guy, but unless I missed something, it’s a bit much to accuse Mr. Cowie of being a North Korean mule, wittingly or otherwise.