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KUALA LUMPUR: A North Korean man today launched a legal challenge against a US attempt to extradite him from Malaysia on allegations that he supplied goods to his country in violation of sanctions.
Mun Chol Myong, who has lived in the country with his family for a decade, was arrested last year following an extradition request from Washington.
He denies claims by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation that he led a criminal group that violated sanctions by supplying North Korea with luxury goods and laundering funds through front companies.
The Sessions Court here last December approved his extradition to the United States, but Mun appealed against the decision in Superior Court today.
His lawyer, Gooi Soon Seng, argued that Mun was innocent and that the accusations against him were “political in nature”.
The court will rule on the appeal on October 8.
Mun, in his 50s, is charged with four counts of money laundering and two counts of conspiracy to launder money, primarily in connection with his work for a company in Singapore.
It’s unclear what he’s accused of supplying, but there have been a number of cases involving businessmen in Singapore in recent years who have shipped items to North Korea ranging from liquor to jewelry.
Mun’s defense team has previously claimed that it was only involved in supplying palm oil and soybean oil to North Korea.
The export to North Korea of some goods, including luxury goods, has been banned as part of broad sanctions imposed on Pyongyang by the United Nations and countries, including the United States, for its weapons programs.
