US State Department "First Sanctions Announcement Coordinated Among 4 Countries"
On the 30th (local time), the U.S. Department of State announced that four countries?South Korea, the United States, Japan, and Australia?have coordinated to impose sanctions on individuals involved in North Korea's reconnaissance satellite launch.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in a press release that the four countries?South Korea, the United States, Japan, and Australia?have designated individuals related to North Korea's military reconnaissance satellite launch on November 21 as targets for sanctions in response to the launch. Secretary Blinken explained that this is the first time the four countries have announced coordinated sanctions measures against North Korea.
In this regard, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned eight North Korean individuals, including Choi Sung-chol, Choi Eun-hyuk, and Im Sung-soon, who were involved in generating revenue to support North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programs and procuring missile technology. OFAC also included the hacker group "Kimsuky," which operates under the Reconnaissance General Bureau’s Third Bureau (Technical Reconnaissance Bureau), in the sanctions list.
The United States is understood to have taken this coordinated action with key Indo-Pacific allies, judging that new UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea are practically difficult due to the recent stance of permanent Security Council members China and Russia opposing the strengthening of sanctions against North Korea.
Although North Korea has almost no exchanges or transactions with South Korea, the United States, Japan, or Australia, and thus unilateral sanctions against North Korean individuals and entities have more symbolic than practical effects, this move appears to reflect the intention to demonstrate unified action centered on allied countries.
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