The U.N. added more weight to the June 30th U.S. Treasury Department designation of companies to be subject to financial sanctions yesterday, issuing a list of five entities, five individuals and two specific types of product that are subject to sanction under paragraph 8 of the 2006 Resolution 1718.
Two of the entities, Iran-based Hong Kong Electronics and North Korea’s Namchongang Trading Corporation, feature on both the U.S. Treasury and U.N. lists.
The remaining entities on the list of five are all based in Pyongyang. They are; Hyoksin Trading Corporation, part of the Ryonbong Trading Corporation, which is the state actor in many joint ventures with international partners, including Pyeongwha Motors; Tangun Trading Corporation, which is “primarily responsible for the procurement of commodities and technologies to support (the) Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s defense research and development programs;” and the General Bureau of Atomic Energy (GBAE), which is the state agency responsible for nuclear programs.
In addition, five individuals have been handed travel prohibitions under the U.N document (SC/9708), including two directors of the GBAE, the director of Namchongang Trading Corporation, the former director of the Yongbyon nuclear facility, and one Han Yu-ro, the director of the Ryongaksan General Trading Corporation, which the document alleges is involved in the North’s ballistic missile program.
Finally, SC/9708 expressly prohibits any trade with North Korea in a specific form of graphite used in certain types of high-tech machine tool, and para-aramid fibers, the most famous being Kevlar, which have a range of military uses.
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification greeted the designations, announcing on Thursday, “We are all in-gear, so that the Ministry, in cooperation with other related ministries and offices, can implement the sanctions fully.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification, Choen Hae Sung added on Friday, “The administration will prohibit all kinds of trade, aid or passage for the five North Korean individuals and five entities.”
Cheon also announced, “The Ministry has found that no South Korean company traded with these five North Korean entities during the last period of inter-Korean economic cooperation.”
An official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade noted, “The U.N. Security Council’s action to designate targets is of considerable significance. The sanctions will be enforced by cooperation and agreement between the Ministries of Unification and Strategy and Finance.”
The official predicted, “It is hard to evaluate the results of these sanctions, but North Korean trade should face difficulties because the five entities have contributed significantly to North Korea’s external trade.”
