US Sanctions Two North Koreans for "Illegally Selling Weapons to Myanmar Military Regime"

Sanctions Imposed on KOMID and Reconnaissance General Bureau Officials
for Financing North Korea's Weapons Development Programs

The Donald Trump administration in the United States has announced new sanctions against two North Korean individuals and three Myanmar nationals, among others, for their involvement in the illegal sale of weapons to Myanmar's military regime.

AP Yonhap News

On September 25 (local time), the U.S. Department of the Treasury added two North Korean individuals-Nam Cheolwoong (56), affiliated with the Reconnaissance General Bureau and operating out of Dalian, China, and Kim Youngju (41), deputy representative of Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID) who has been active in Beijing-as well as three Myanmar nationals to its new sanctions list. In addition, Royal Sun Lei Co., Ltd., a Myanmar-based arms procurement company, was also sanctioned.

Those designated under the sanctions will have all assets in the United States frozen, and all transactions with U.S. persons are prohibited. According to the Treasury Department, Kim Youngju played a role in supplying air-dropped bomb guidance equipment, bombs, and aerial surveillance equipment to the Myanmar Air Force, while Nam Cheolwoong was involved in laundering foreign currency earnings in Southeast Asia.

In a press release, the Treasury Department stated that this action targets KOMID and the Reconnaissance General Bureau, both of which play a crucial role in financing North Korea's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs. Both entities are already subject to sanctions by the United Nations and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The Treasury described KOMID, also known as Bureau 221, as North Korea’s primary arms dealer and a major exporter of key equipment for ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. The department also pointed out that KOMID and the Reconnaissance General Bureau have established offices and representatives in multiple countries around the world, setting up shell companies to facilitate illicit remittances to North Korea.

John K. Hurley, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes at the Treasury Department, stated, "North Korea’s illegal weapons program poses a direct threat to the United States and its allies," adding, "The Treasury will continue to dismantle the financial networks that sustain it." The U.S. State Department, in a statement by Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott, also said that "cutting off funding for North Korea’s illicit WMD and ballistic missile programs" is one of the goals of these sanctions.

This round of sanctions, aimed at tightening the financial channels supporting North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, comes just days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed willingness to engage in U.S.-North Korea talks on the condition that denuclearization is abandoned. On September 21, during the 13th meeting of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim Jong Un was quoted by North Korean state media as saying, "Personally, I have fond memories of the current U.S. President Trump," and, "If the United States is willing to let go of its unrealistic obsession with denuclearization and recognizes reality as the basis for genuine peaceful coexistence with us, there is no reason why we cannot stand face-to-face with the United States."