The United States announced tonight (Friday-Saturday) that it has decided to impose further sanctions on two Russian banks, a North Korean company and another person, who have been accused of supporting a North Korean mass destruction weapons program. The sanctions were imposed as part of a U.S. effort to increase pressure on North Korea following its efforts to launch ballistic missiles.
The sanctions come a day after Russia and China vetoed the UN Security Council on the US proposal to impose extensive sanctions on North Korea. The veto was announced despite the United States’ claim that North Korea has conducted an intercontinental ballistic missile test and other signs that Pyongyang plans to conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.
A statement from the US Treasury Department said that the individual person who was sanctioned was Jong Jong Nam, a representative in Belarus of an organization subordinate to the Second Academy of Natural Sciences of North Korea. According to Washington, Jung Nam has supported ballistic missile-related organizations.
“The United States will continue to enforce and enforce existing sanctions, while pushing North Korea back to a diplomatic path. It must abandon the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles,” said US Deputy Secretary of State for Finance Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and its partners Japan and South Korea have issued a statement saying North Korea has “significantly increased the pace and scope of ballistic missile launches since September.”