TREASURY UNDER SECRETARY MEETS WITH THE COMMUNIST

S E C R E T HANOI 001948 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/01/2016 TAGS: EFIN CTERR ECON IO PREL KN VM SUBJECT: TREASURY UNDER SECRETARY MEETS WITH THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF VIETNAM REF: A. REF A) SECSTATE 105317 ¶B. REF B) HANOI 1594 ¶C. REF C) HANOI 1595 Classified By: Ambassador Michael W. Marine, Reasons 1.4 (b/d) ¶1. (S) Summary and Comment: In a July 19 meeting with Le Quang Ba, Deputy Director General of the Vietnamese Communist Party (CPV) External Relations Commission North East Asia Department, Treasury Under Secretary Stuart Levey encouraged the Party to follow through on information previously passed by the United States to Vietnam relating to North Korean financing for illicit activities. Ba,s reply was noncommittal, but, at the very least, the Party is now aware of the importance the USG attaches to this matter. The Party sees itself as the steward of Vietnam,s relations with the DPRK through its long-standing ties with the Korea Workers Party. As such, any decision to take action against North Korea may meet some Party resistance. End Summary and Comment. ¶2. (S) U/S Levey informed Ba about his productive meetings earlier in the day with the MFA and State Bank of Vietnam in which the information passed by the United States and Vietnam,s next steps were discussed in specific terms. ¶3. (S) The U/S noted that when the USG passed the GVN information about North Korean financial activity in Vietnam, it was a friendly bilateral gesture to help Vietnam ensure that its banks are not abused or threatened by DPRK entities seeking a foothold in Vietnam to facilitate their illicit activities. Levey added that the recent UN Security Council Resolution on North Korea expresses unanimous disapproval of North Korea,s behavior and bars all member nations from conducting business directly or indirectly with North Korea,s weapons of mass destruction program, including preventing the transfer of financial resources to DPRK WMD and missile programs. ¶4. (S) Ba,s noncommittal response did not directly address the issue of illicit North Korean financing in Vietnam. He stressed that the CPV does not have oversight responsibility for banking operations. He did note that the CPV closely watches information related to North Korea,s missile tests, the world,s response to these tests, and the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. ¶5. (S) The Ambassador emphasized that the reputation of Vietnamese financial institutions is at stake and that, although the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) does not directly oversee financial matters, this issue is important for Vietnam,s relationship with the international community and the United States, which is certainly a topic of interest to the CPV. Comment -------------- ¶6. (S) At the very least, the Party is now aware of the importance the USG attaches to this matter. The Party sees itself as the steward of Vietnam,s relations with the DPRK through its long-standing ties with the Korea Workers Party. As such, any decision to take action against North Korea may meet some Party resistance. ¶7. (U) This message was cleared by Treasury staff. MARINE MARINE