The Golden Star Bank was
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
's last bank in Europe.
History
It was established in 1982, located in
Vienna, Austria
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, and owned by
Taesong Bank
Korea Taesong Bank ( ko, 조선 대성 은행; sometimes called Daesong Bank, Dae-Sung Bank or Taesong General Trading Corporation; in Japan called Chosun Tae Seong-Unhan; Tae-bank, Choson Taesong Unhaeng) is a North Korean financial institution. ...
.
In 2003, the
Austrian Interior Ministry
In Austria, the Ministry of the Interior (german: Bundesministerium für Inneres, colloquially ''Innenministerium'', abbreviated: BMI) is a federal government agency serving as the interior ministry of the Austrian government. It is chiefly res ...
released a report that claimed that the bank was engaging in
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
, "
money-laundering, the distribution of
forged currency and illegal trade with radioactive substances."
The bank was closed in June 2004 amid suspicions of money laundering and the funding of North Korean arms, although there was not enough evidence to start a criminal trial.
See also
*
Banco Delta Asia
References
Banks established in 1982
Banks disestablished in 2004
Banks of Austria
Defunct banks
Banks of North Korea
2004 disestablishments in Austria
Companies based in Vienna
Austrian companies established in 1982
{{Europe-bank-stub