WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) – The United States slapped
economic sanctions on Thursday on two North Korean bank
officials and a Hong Kong trading company that it accused of
supporting Pyongyang’s proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction.
The U.S. move was linked to sanctions imposed by the United
Nations against North Korea on Wednesday, which prompted an
immediate threat by North Korea to boost its military and
nuclear capabilities.
The U.N. action condemned North Korea’s December rocket
launch and expanded existing sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury Department said the two men worked for
North Korea’s Tanchon Commercial Bank (TCB). The company, Leader
(Hong Kong) International Trading Ltd, was separately
blacklisted by the United Nations on Wednesday.
Leader is an agent for KOMID, a North Korean mining and
trading company that was sanctioned in 2009 and is the country’s
main arms dealer, the United Nations said.
“Our actions today target two North Korean entities, Tanchon
Commercial Bank and KOMID, that are part of the web of banks,
front companies and government agencies that support North
Korea’s continued proliferation activities,” said David Cohen,
U.S. Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial
intelligence.
The action bans contact between any U.S. citizen and Ra
Ky’ong-Su, TCB representative to Beijing, and Kim Kwang-Il, TCB
deputy representative to Beijing, and freezes their assets. It
also freezes the assets of, and bans contacts with, Leader.
“By continuing to expose these entities, and the individuals
who assist them, we degrade North Korea’s ability to use the
international financial system for its illicit purpose,” Cohen
said in a statement.
(Reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by Xavier Briand and
Bernadette Baum)
