Biden imposes first sanctions over North Korea weapons program after missile tests

01/13/2022

Washington, Jan, 13: The Biden administration on Wednesday imposed its first sanctions over North Korea’s weapons programs following a series of North Korean missile launches, including two since last week. The sanctions targeted six North Koreans, one Russian and a Russian firm Washington said were responsible for procuring goods for the programs from Russia and China.

 

The US Treasury said the steps aimed both to prevent the advancement of North Korea’s programs and to impede its attempts to proliferate weapons technologies. The administration of US President Joe Biden has sought unsuccessfully to engage Pyongyang in dialogue to persuade it to give up its nuclear bombs and missiles since taking office in January last year.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington remained committed to pursuing diplomacy with North Korea. “What we have seen in recent days … only underscores our belief that if we are going to make progress, that we will need to engage in that dialogue,” he told a regular news briefing.

The Treasury Department said the sanctions followed six North Korean ballistic missile launches since September, each of which violated UN Security Council resolutions. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said the moves targeted North Korea’s “continued use of overseas representatives to illegally procure goods for weapons.”

North Korea’s latest launches were “further evidence that it continues to advance prohibited programs despite the international community’s calls for diplomacy and denuclearization,” Nelson said in a statement. It said the State Department had designated Russia-based North Korean Choe Myong Hyon, Russian national Roman Anatolyevich Alar and the Russian firm Parsek LLC for “activities or transactions that have materially contributed to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery.”

It said Choe Myong Hyon, a Vladivostok-based representative of North Korea’s Second Academy of Natural Sciences (SANS), had worked to procure telecommunications-related equipment from Russia.

Four China-based North Korean representatives of SANS-subordinate organisations — Sim Kwang Sok, Kim Song Hun, Kang Chol Hak and Pyon Kwang Chol — and one other Russia-based North Korean, O Yong Ho, were also targeted. Sim Kwang Sok, based in Dalian, had worked to procure steel alloys and Kim Song Hun, who was based in Shenyang, software and chemicals, Treasury said.

In a statement, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that between at least 2016 and 2021, O Yong Ho had worked with Parsek LLC and Alar, the firms’s director for development, to procure multiple goods with ballistic missile applications, including Kevlar thread, aramid fiber, aviation oil, ball bearings, and precision milling machines.

Blinken said Alar also provided O Yong Ho with instructions for creating solid rocket fuel mixtures. “The procurement and supply relationship between O Yong Ho, Roman Anatolyevich Alar, and Parsek LLC is a key source of missile-applicable goods and technology for the DPRK’s missile program,” his statement said.

It also said O Yong Ho had worked to procure items including aramid fiber, stainless steel tubes and ball bearings from “third countries” it did not name.

North Korea’s UN mission, Russia and China’s embassies in Washington and the Russian firm did not respond to requests for comment.

North Korean media said leader Kim Jong Un observed the test of a hypersonic missile on Tuesday, the second in less than a week after he vowed in a New Year speech to bolster the military with cutting-edge technology. Tuesday’s test came hours after the US mission to the United Nations, joined by Albania, France, Ireland, Japan and the United Kingdom, condemned last week’s launch and called on UN states to fulfill sanctions obligations.

UN resolutions ban North Korean ballistic missile and nuclear tests and impose sanctions.

Anthony Ruggiero, a sanctions expert in the former Trump administration that failed to persuade Kim to roll back his nuclear program despite unprecedented engagement, called the new sanctions “a good start.” However, he said the Biden administration had allowed a reversal of sanctions pressure and added: “Biden needs to continue the designations to increase the pressure on the Kim regime.”

Price did not respond when asked why no Chinese individuals or entities were targeted, or specifically when asked if China and Russia were doing enough to enforce sanctions, but stressed the importance of all UN states doing so, while adding: “Obviously we’ve not seen all of that.”

 

Wednesday’s actions freeze any US-related assets of those targeted and prohibit all dealings with them.-Agencies

Related News

China, Pakistan and Russia trying to figure out what to do with Taliban, says Biden

Washington, Sept. 8: China, Pakistan, Russia and Iran are trying to figure out what do they do now with the Taliban, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday. Hours after the Taliban announced the details of its interim government, Biden told reporters that China had a "real problem" with the…

Indo-Canadian lawmaker condemns killing of Indian youth, says fight to eradicate racism must continue

Toronto, Sept. 9: An Indo-Canadian lawmaker on Thursday condemned the murder of an Indian youth in Canada’s Nova Scotia province, saying hate, violence and racism have no place in the country and the fight to eradicate these menaces must continue. Prabhjot Singh Katri, 23, was found murdered at an apartment…

Interim Taliban govt does not reflect what international community hoped to see: US

Washington, Sept. 10: The interim Taliban government does not reflect what the international community and the United States hoped to see, the Biden Administration said on Thursday. "We have spoken about our reaction to the initial caretaker government. You have heard us say that the lack of inclusivity, the track…

India, Australia emphasise on importance of combating terrorism without compromise

New Delhi, Sept. 11: In a high-level foreign and defence ministerial dialogue, India and Australia on Saturday set out an ambitious framework for defence with Afghanistan as a major subject of discussion. During the inaugural ‘two-plus-two’ talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and their…

Afghan musicians flee Kabul, fearing for their lives and dire future for art under Taliban rule

Peshawar, Sept. 12: Ashraf Gulzar, an Afghan singer, mentioned the Taliban have banned all music programmes in Kabul which is a matter of concern for the individuals related to the music trade. The scheduled music occasions organized with Pakistani artists in Kabul, Jalalabad, and different large cities of Afghanistan have…

Taliban breaking promises, including over women, says UN

Geneva, Sept. 13: Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have contradicted public promises on rights, including by ordering women to stay at home, blocking teenage girls from school and holding house-to-house searches for former foes, a United Nations official said on Monday. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Afghanistan was in…

Video

Find Us on Facebook

From Social

Tehran, June 21: As India presses ahead with Operation Sindhu to evacuate its citizens from Iran amid intensifying hostilities in the Middle East, the Indian Embassy in Tehran has announced that, upon formal requests from the governments of Nepal and Sri…

India to evacuate Nepalese, Sri Lankan nationals from Iran amid escalating tensions    

Kathmandu, Nov. 24: The joint training exercise "SURYA KIRAN-XVII" of Nepali Army and Indian Army is starting from 24 November 2023 in Pithoragarh, India. The Nepalese army team that will participate in the exercise, which will be attended by the…

Nepal-India Joint Military Training Excerise Surya Kiran Begin Today    

New Delhi, May 5: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the guest of honour for this year’s Bastille Day Parade in Paris scheduled to take place on July 14.  In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of…

Indian PM Modi to attend Bastille Day Parade in Paris as guest of honour on July 14