S. Korea, U.S. impose new sanctions on individuals, companies for financing N. Korea’s weapons ...

S. Korea, U.S. impose new sanctions on individuals, companies for financing N. Korea’s weapons programs 한미, ‘북한 불법 자금조달 관여’ 기관 2곳•개인 4명 공동 제재 South Korea and the U.S. have issued another set of sanctions against North Korea, as part of their latest efforts to cut off sources of funding used for North Korea’s nuclear and missile program. Bae Eun-ji has the details. South Korea and the U.S. have newly added two entities and four individuals to their sanctions list, for their involvement in illicit financing and generating revenue through overseas North Korean information technology workers --that are used to fund the regime’s nuclear and missile development. This includes a UAE-based firm called Pioneer Bencont Star Real Estate, and a Russia-based company called Alis LLC. South Korea’s foreign ministry explained Thursday that the two companies were sanctioned for engaging in the dispatch and operations of North Korean IT workers abroad. Also on the sanctions list are four bank representatives: Yu Pu-ung, Han Chol-man, Jong Song-ho and O In-chun for evading sanctions and funding North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, through illegal financial activities such as money laundering. The foreign ministry said Yu Pu-ung, in particular, is a person that South Korea and the U.S. have both been tracking. The U.S. State Department also described Yu as a “linchpin in North Korea’s illicit financial activities“, and a person that’s skilled at employing various schemes to avoid detection. The latest action aligns with the ’6th South Korea-U.S. Working Group Meeting’ to counter North Korean cyber threats, a two-day meeting that began Wednesday in Washington D.C. Seoul’s foreign ministry said the sanctions are expected to raise awareness of the risks related to transactions involving these individuals and entities, not just domestically but also within the international community. A recent report by a panel of experts at the United Nations shows, North Korea has obtained about half of its total foreign currency income through financial theft, such as hacking and cyber attacks,.. and these funds were used to cover 40 percent of the resources needed for developing weapons of mass destruction. Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News. #NorthKorea #new_sanctions #nuclearweapons #nucleartest #nuclearmissile #UnitedStates #SouthKorea #illegal_fund #한미동맹 #북한불법자금 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2024-03-28, 09:00 (KST)