Seoul sanctions former South Korean citizen for funding Pyongyang

South Korean government levied sanctions on a South Korea-born Russian for raking in money illegally for the North Korean regime and its weapons of mass destruction...

Lee Joon-il, South Korea's deputy nuclear envoy, announces Seoul's latest unilateral sanctions on individuals and organizations tied to illegal financial activities funding the North Korean regime during a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

The South Korean government levied sanctions on a South Korean-born Russian for raking in money illegally for the North Korean regime and its weapons of mass destruction.

“The man is named Choi Chon-gon, who, after gaining Russian citizenship, engaged in activities violating the UN [United Nations] Security Council resolutions,” Lee Joon-il, South Korea’s deputy nuclear envoy, said in speaking with the press on Wednesday.

Choi, 66, was born in South Korea but had left the country while being investigated for his alleged involvement in a financial crime. While he was a South Korean citizen, he went by the name Choi Cheong-gon, according to the Foreign Ministry and the National Police Agency.

The ministry and the police did not disclose to the press when Choi last left South Korea.

The ministry said that Choi was sanctioned based on several laws including the Act on Prohibition Against the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Wednesday's sanction was the first time that the South Korean government sanctioned an individual of South Korean descent for their illicit activities funding the North.

Sanctioned with Choi was a North Korean individual, So Myong, a representative of the Vladivostok office of the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea.

The companies they established in Mongolia and Russia, were also sanctioned, the ministry said. Choi ran a company called Hanne Ulaan LLC in Mongolia, which was estimated to have raked in as much as 10 billion won ($7.6 million) for the North Korean regime.

So and Han had established Epsilon in Russia together.

“Because Choi was once a South Korean, we believed it likely that he could try to engage with the financial market in South Korea,” a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.

South Korea has sanctioned 45 individuals and 47 organizations with ties to Pyongyang as of Wednesday since it began applying unilateral sanctions on the North starting last October. The last set of sanctions were placed earlier this month on the North Korean hacking group “Kimsuky” believed to be behind major cyber attacks and stealing satellite technology worldwide.

Any Korean entity, regardless of their location of business, wishing to engage with the sanctioned individuals or organizations for financial transactions will need the approval of the Bank of Korea or the Financial Services Commission.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]