The 4th Cyber Sanction under Yoon Government... Ten Days After
"North Korea's Provocations Are Self-Defeating as Sanctions Tighten"
[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] The government has additionally designated four individuals and five organizations as targets of independent sanctions for contributing to North Korea's nuclear and missile development and evasion of sanctions, in response to North Korea's provocations. This measure is the government's fastest-ever sanction action following North Korea's provocations.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 20th, "As a response to North Korea's long-range and short-range ballistic missile launches, which pose a serious threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the international community, we have additionally designated four individuals and five organizations as targets of independent sanctions."
This is the fourth independent sanction against North Korea under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and comes ten days after the sanction measures against North Korea's illegal cyber activities on the 10th. With this, the government has designated 31 individuals and 35 organizations as targets of independent sanctions since October last year.
An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "Our government has clearly made it known that North Korea's provocations will inevitably have consequences," emphasizing, "North Korea's repeated provocations will result in a self-defeating situation where the deterrence of the ROK-US alliance is strengthened and the international community's sanction network becomes even tighter."
The four individuals newly added to the sanction list are ▲Ri Seong-un ▲Kim Su-il ▲Lee Seok ▲AMTCHENTSEV Vladlen (South Africa), and the five organizations are ▲Songwon Shipping Company ▲Dongheung Shipping Trading Company ▲Daejin Trading Corporation ▲Transatlantic Partners Pte. Ltd (Singapore) ▲Velmur Management Pte. Ltd (Singapore).
Ri Seong-un and the other three individuals acted on behalf of the North Korean government in transporting or exporting sanctioned goods or were involved in oil exports to North Korea, thereby contributing to North Korea's nuclear and missile development and securing funds through evasion of sanctions. The five organizations are North Korean shipping companies involved in sanction evasion activities at sea or contributed to sanction evasion through transactions such as North Korean coal trade.
The United States has also designated these sanction targets as independent sanction subjects. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said, "Designating the same individuals or organizations as independent sanction targets together with allies such as the United States and Japan will further raise international awareness," and evaluated, "It is expected to strengthen the effect of sanctions and contribute to enhancing cooperation on North Korea policies among allied countries."
He added, "The government will continue to strengthen close cooperation with the international community, including the United States, so that North Korea stops all tension-raising acts and comes to denuclearization talks," and "We expect this measure to once again alert both domestic and international communities to the risks of transactions with institutions and individuals involved in North Korea's illegal activities and to effectively cut off North Korea's funding sources."
Meanwhile, prior approval from the Governor of the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission is required to conduct foreign exchange or financial transactions with the sanctioned targets, and failure to obtain approval may result in punishment according to relevant laws.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
