The Bank of China blocks foreign currency flow to and from North Korea. China's patience is over. They are serious, several analysts say. "Pyongyang has been able to ignore the rest of the international community over the years thanks to Beijing's support. But now things have changed, and they must come to terms with the world," Catholic source tells AsiaNews.

Seoul (AsiaNews) - The Bank of China has closed the account of a North Korean lender accused by the United States of helping finance Pyongyang's controversial nuclear weapons programme. The government-owned Chinese banking giant notified the Foreign Trade Bank, North Korea's main foreign exchange bank, of the closure and ending of fund transfers related to it.

No reason was given for the closure, which comes amid growing frustration in China over North Korea's military provocations. But Beijing has voted in favour of the latest UN sanctions against the North and appears to have lost its influence over Kim Jong-un's regime, which is now almost completely isolated from the rest of the world.

Mainland China is North Korea's last ally and biggest trading partner. However, because of the military crisis caused by Kim Jong-un, trade between the two countries dropped more than 7 per cent in the first three months of this year. Although China's imports from North Korea rose 2.5 per cent, exports dropped 13.8 per cent.

The action by the state-controlled bank may signal that Beijing is ready to use economic measures to bring Pyongyang to yield.

"This decision is a very serious blow to North Korea," a Catholic source, who works on the Korean border, told AsiaNews. "Until now, the Chinese kept the economy of that country alive, but now they cannot take it anymore. Pyongyang has been able to ignore the rest of the international community over the years thanks to Beijing's support. But now things have changed, and they must come to terms with the world."

For Shi Yinhong, a professor and international relations expert at Renmin University, "Beijing is sending a signal to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that he'd better stop ignoring China's demands and creating instability on the Korean peninsula."

Cui Shying agrees. For the expert on Korean affairs at Tongji University in Shanghai, China wants to show that it was serious in implementing sanctions.

• china
• north
• korea
• sanctions
• bank
• closure