Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reports that North Korean diplomatic officials were recently caught smuggling one million dollars and 200 million yen in cash into Mongolia.

The daily on Wednesday quoted a Mongolian news agency as saying that the officials had explained to the Mongolian government that the money was meant to be deposited at a local bank.

TheJapanese daily also noted resurfacing suspicions over Pyongyang's alleged money laundering. However, the report did not specify whether the money seized in Mongolia was counterfeit, nor did it detail how the Mongolian government would deal with the matter.

Last September, Washington imposed sanctions against a Macao-based bank with North Korean accounts after accusing Pyongyang of counterfeiting and money laundering activities.