Treasury: US sanctions against North Korea and Russia include new sanctions

New sanctions imposed by the United States on Monday targeted Pyongyang’s financial activities as well as its military support for Moscow, according to the Treasury Department.

The sanctions list North Korean generals, banks and officials, as well as Russian oil companies. They are the latest U.S. measures aimed at disrupting North Korea’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Treasury Department released a statement naming Golden Triangle Bank and Korea Mandal Credit Bank as the North Korean banks that were targeted.

In recent years, Pyongyang has increased its diplomatic and economic ties with Moscow. This culminated in the Russian President Vladimir Putin visiting North Korea in June and signing a mutual defence pact.

International alarm has been raised over the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. Washington, Kyiv, and Seoul have condemned North Korea's sending of military equipment and more 10,000 troops to Russia in support of its war against Ukraine which it invaded on February 20, 2022.

North Korea's recent tests of long-range missiles and its increasing military support for Russia undermines the stability of this region and supports Putin's war against Ukraine, according to Bradley Smith, acting Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

He said that the United States remained committed to disrupting illicit networks of procurement and facilitation, which enable destabilizing activities.

The sanctions include North Korean generals, who according to the Department are among the thousands Pyongyang sent to Russia in order to help its Ukraine war effort.

Ukraine reported last week that Russia was using North Korean troops for the first in large numbers to attack Ukrainian forces fighting to hold a enclave within Russia's Kursk Region.

Kyiv estimates that there are in total 11,000 North Koreans, which is added to the force of tens and thousands of Russians.

Russia has not confirmed or denied the presence of North Koreans in its ranks.

OIL AND GAS TO NORTH

The sanctions block the transactions of these entities with U.S. financial institutions, prohibit their trade with Americans and ban them from doing business with those Americans.

Treasury imposed sanctions on Russian foreign trade companies, which it claimed were shipping oil and natural gas to North Korea. Vostok, DV, and Novosibirskoblgaz are among the companies. Treasury stated that they started shipping "thousands" of tons of gas and oil to North Korea in 2022. They continued until at least April 20,24.

North Korea is likely to have a nuclear weapon.

More than 1,000,000 barrels of oil received

According to an analysis published by the BBC and Open Source Centre in November, the BBC and British-based Open Source Centre found that Russia imported oil over an eight-month span this year in violation of U.N. Sanctions.

The report by the Open Source Centre, a research group, said that since March, North Korean oil tanks have visited the Russian port of Vostochny in the Far East.

These sanctions also included Sibregiongaz AO, a Russian parent company that is the 100% owner of Novosibirskoblgaz. The sanctions also targeted Okryu Trading Company or Okryu, which is a North Korean-based company engaged in foreign trade. Treasury claimed that Okryu had received oil shipments worth thousands of tons from Russia. Reporting by Doina chiacu, Timothy Gardner, and Rami Ayyub. Editing by Andrea Ricci.

(source: Reuters)