Due to their participation in the sale of refined oil to Pyongyang, which directly supports the growth of North Korea’s military and nuclear programmes, the United States announced the application of sanctions on two people and three businesses connected to North Korea.
In a press release posted by the US State Department on its website today, Friday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated that North Korea has continued to launch ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate, scale, and range this year.
Six of the 41 ballistic missiles Pyongyang launched this year alone were intercontinental ballistic missiles, he continued.
The UN Security Council resolutions, according to the statement, forbid ship-to-ship transfers of any shipment of vessels flying the North Korean flag and limit Pyongyang’s import of refined petroleum products to 500,000 barrels annually as of 2018, a limit Pyongyang has consistently exceeded since then.
He emphasised that if the Security Council Committee for North Korea, which was established in accordance with resolution 1718 (2006), is not informed, any excess of the maximum imports of refined petroleum to North Korea is regarded as illegal.
He continued, “New Eastern Shipping,” Kwik Kee Singh, and Chen Shih-hwan are the targets of the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions for their roles in the delivery or transportation of refined petroleum products to North Korea. He added that the sanctions also affected the two companies “Anfasar” for trading and Swanseas Port Services, registered in Singapore, because they were owned by or affiliated, directly or indirectly, with Kwik
Blinken closed the statement by noting that these measures demonstrate the United States’ determination to retaliate against individuals who aid in the growth and improvement of North Korea’s armed forces.
Sanctions are imposed by the United States on organisations and people connected to North Korea.
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