S. Korea and US readying additional sanctions upon serious NK provocation

[Photo by Lee Seung-hwan]

Seoul and Washington have discussed additional sanction on North Korean figures and institutions to dent the regime’s chest for weapons program amid speculation that Pyongyang is readying a nuclear test, according to an official of the presidential office on Wednesday.

Asked if additional joint sanctions are on the table, the unnamed official during a press briefing after a trilateral summit among leaders of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan Madrid Wednesday on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conference said “the plan of enhancing sanctions had been discussed prior to the summit.

He did not go into details, citing confidentiality at the moment.

Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, on Monday met with visiting Brian Nelson, undersecretary for terrorism who heads the Treasury Office of Foreign Asset Control responsible for overseeing sanctions on North Korea.

They are believed to have discussed additional sanctions which could add figures and institutions on the blacklist subject to freeze on assets to be activated if Pyongyang carries out serious provocations like a new nuclear test and long-range missile launch.

Pak Jong-chon, chief of the General Staff of North Korea and the No. 2 after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in military command, could make the addition to the U.S. blacklist.

He has been blacklisted by Seoul since December 2016 after Pyongyang’s two nuclear tests and 20 missile launches in the year. He is also subject to sanctions by the European Union but remains off on the U.S. list.

Seoul and Washington are also enhancing watch and crackdown on cyber hacking and fraud emerging as a new revenue source for the Pyongyang regime.

Nelson in an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper said, “It’s a big priority for us, and it’s also a priority in the context of ransomware and other activities that we’re seeing that we believe that DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is taking advantage of in order to support its weapons of mass destruction program.”

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