US Adds Sanctions on 5 North Korean Entities Including Rocket Industry Department

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] The U.S. Biden administration announced additional sanctions targeting North Korea, which has continued ballistic missile provocations since the beginning of the year.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated on the 1st (local time), "We have sanctioned five entities that violated multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions and supported North Korea's development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs."

The newly sanctioned entities include the Rocket Industry Department, Chosun Seungri San Trading Company, Hapjanggang Trading Company, and Uncheon Trading Company.

The Treasury explained, "Today's action targets North Korea's WMD research and development institutions directly or indirectly related to the development of new ICBMs and their subsidiaries that have financed related costs."

The Rocket Industry Department is known as an affiliate of the Military Industry Department, which oversees North Korea's military industry. The four subsidiaries are reported to have earned foreign currency through dispatching North Korean workers overseas and joint ventures with foreign companies, providing funds and materials for North Korea's WMD and missile development.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, "North Korea's provocative ballistic missile tests pose a clear threat to regional and global security and blatantly violate UN Security Council resolutions. The United States is committed to using its sanction authorities to respond to North Korea's ongoing WMD and ballistic missile development."

Earlier, on the 24th of last month, shortly after North Korea's ICBM launch, the U.S. sanctioned the Second Academy of Natural Sciences (currently the National Defense Science Academy) International Affairs Department, known as the mecca of North Korea's ballistic missile development, one North Korean national, two Russian entities, and one Russian national.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.