EU to Impose Sanctions on North Korean Officials Involved in 'Russian Troop Deployment'

EU Commission Drafts Sanctions Proposal for North Korean Officials Involved in 'Russian Troop Deployment'

The European Union (EU) has decided to include a high-ranking North Korean defense official who assisted Russia's troop deployment on its sanctions list.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un are taking a photo together. Photo by AP Yonhap News

Bloomberg reported on the 25th (local time) that the European Commission (EC) has drafted a proposal stating that such additional measures are necessary in relation to the strengthened sanctions against Russia following the Ukraine war.

North Korean military officials involved in the deployment of approximately 11,000 North Korean troops to the Kursk region of Russia are expected to be targeted by the sanctions. The specific list has not yet been disclosed.

Once approved by the 27 EU member states, this draft will be finalized, marking the first case of international sanctions related to North Korea’s troop deployment.

The EU considers Russia’s actions in the Ukraine war as a violation of the United Nations (UN) Charter, which guarantees territorial integrity, and has imposed independent sanctions. In February, the EU added then North Korean Minister of Defense Kang Sun-nam and the North Korean Missile General Bureau to the sanctions list in connection with missile support to Russia.

The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) are also pushing to issue an official statement condemning North Korea’s troop deployment in line with the EU’s sanctions move. At the ongoing foreign ministers’ meeting in Italy, the G7 is expected to define North Korea’s deployment as a “dangerous escalation of the conflict.”

The foreign ministers are also reportedly expressing concern about the possibility of Russia transferring nuclear technology to North Korea. Additional measures are planned to block revenues generated from Russia’s energy, metals, and other goods.

Meanwhile, the G7 plans to take “appropriate measures” against countries such as China that support Russia’s invasion in its official statement. One notable measure under consideration is sanctioning Chinese companies that have supported the manufacture of drones used in the attack on Ukraine.

China, officially maintaining a stance of “neutrality” in the Ukraine war, has opposed such sanctions against its companies. On the 26th, Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated, “China has consistently worked for peace mediation on the Ukraine issue,” and “we oppose unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law and are not authorized by the UN Security Council.”