Domestic Law and International Relations: USA PATRIOT Act Section 311, and the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004

Abstract

This article proposes that the future of international relations increasinglywill be affected by domestic law. We examine this thesis in the context of UnitedStates-North Korean relations from 2004 to 2007. The statutory content, applicationand observable results of two U.S. domestic statutes are offered as a study in contrasting approaches for domestic law and policy with international relationsimpact: (i) Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 as applied to a third-statebank (Macau’s Banco Delta Asia), based on evidence of money laundering connectedto North Korean criminal financial activity, and (ii) the North Korean Human RightsAct of 2004. We find that the differing statutory content, methods of application andinstitutional context likely account for the drastically different results on the targetnation’s behavior. While the impact of the North Korean Human Rights Act hasbeen either negligible or negative in terms of inspiring behavioral change in thetarget, the anti-money laundering provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act appear tohave affected not only the activities specifically targeted by the domestic statute, butalso resolution of an enforcement action under its authority recently became a toppriority agenda item in international diplomatic negotiations among the UnitedStates, North Korea and other nations within the framework of the Six-Party Talks.We conclude that the apparent success of the domestically launched U.S. anti-moneylaundering enforcement action to affect international relations offers a role model fordomestic legal action with foreign relations outcomes. This domestic legal model islikely to be repeated in other contexts, and likely to be effective for jurisdictions withimportant international financial centers.The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis , Vol. XIX, No. 3, Fall 2007, pp. 167194.