GERMANY REVIEWING UNSCR 1874 BANKING PROVISIONS

UNCLAS BERLIN 000800 SENSITIVE SIPDIS ISN/DPI FOR CHALMERS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN PARM PREL KNNP JP KN GM SUBJECT: GERMANY REVIEWING UNSCR 1874 BANKING PROVISIONS IMPLEMENTATION REF: STATE 66250 ¶1. (SBU) German Finance Ministry Officer Kristina Wogatzki confirmed to Econoff that her ministry is already aware of the reftel request and that the GOG is reviewing the next steps through its interagency process. When informed that the Embassy had also delivered reftel points to the German MFA, Wogatzki said that this should make the process go more smoothly, as now that Ministry is also explicitly aware of the U.S. position. While the exact measures Germany will take are not yet known, Germany, she said, intends to comply with UNSCR 1874 and that she believes that Germany is preparing to "make a strong response" to the UNSCR's call for expanded financial measures against the DPRK. While the recent Financial Agency Task Force (FATF) meeting discussed UNSCR 1874, Wogatzki said that Germany did not want a FATF position on the resolution, as Germany feared this would have resulted in a "watered down" response. ¶2. (SBU) Wogatzki also noted that Japan has been, in this case, more forward-leaning on financial sanctions than she had ever seen before, in sharp contrast to what she said is Japan's usual position. Koenig