Wary of Sanctions, N. Korea Woos Money-Laundering Watchdog

North Korea, long accused by the U.S. and others of engaging in counterfeiting, drug trafficking and even online gambling scams, is trying to repair its international image by courting a little-known but influential body that fights money laundering and terrorist financing.

Most mainstream financial institutions won't go near North Korea, which is isolated by U.N. sanctions over its nuclear weapons program and by accusations it uses illegal activities to prop up its anemic economy.

So many North Korea watchers have been surprised and puzzled to see it engaging with the Asian affiliate of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, a key body supported by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. North Korea remains one of just two countries on the task force's blacklist, the other being Iran.

Read the full article at ABC News.