The United States has hit North Korea and Russia with new sanctions targeting Pyongyang’s financial and military support for Moscow as well as its ballistic missile programme. The sanctions, which cover North Korean banks, generals and other officials, as well as Russian oil shipping companies, are the latest US measure aimed at cutting North Korea’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In a statement released by the Treasury Department, the targeted North Korean banks included Golden Triangle Bank, one of the largest banks in the northeastern Rason Special Economic Zone, and Pyongyang-based Korea Mandal Credit Bank, which has representative offices across China.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry also announced that it blacklisted 11 individuals and 15 organisations linked to illegal military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.
Ten countries, including the United States, South Korea, Australia, the United Kingdom, France and Japan, as well as the European Union, issued a joint statement condemning Pyongyang and Moscow’s military ties ‘in the strongest possible terms’. The statement said North Korea’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine was a ‘dangerous expansion of the conflict’ and a ‘clear violation’ of United Nations sanctions. It called on the country to withdraw its troops from Russia. Pyongyang and Moscow have increased diplomatic and economic ties in recent years, culminating in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to North Korea in June, during which the two leaders signed a mutual defence agreement.
Military cooperation between the two countries was met with international alarm when Washington, Kiev and Seoul condemned North Korea for sending military equipment and more than 10,000 troops to support Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
The Treasury sanctions freeze the designated entities’ assets in the US, prohibit them from trading with Americans, and prevent them from dealing with the US financial system.
The Treasury has blacklisted Russian-based foreign trade companies that it says are shipping oil and gas to North Korea. These companies include Vostok Trading, DV Ink and Novosibirskoblgaz. The Treasury said these companies began shipping ‘thousands of tonnes of oil and gas’ to North Korea from 2022 and continued until at least April 2024.
The sanctions also targeted Sibregiongaz, AO, the Russian-based parent company and 100% owner of Novosibirskoblgaz. They also hit Okryu Trading Company, or Okryu, a North Korea-based foreign trading company that the Treasury said received thousands of tonnes of oil shipments from Russia.
