South Korea said Monday it is "carefully" reviewing whether to add Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korea's leader, to a list of its fresh unilateral sanctions against North Korea.
Seoul is working on new punitive measures against North Korea for its fifth nuclear test in September at a time when the United Nations Security Council is discussing new sanctions over the provocation.
South Korea's unification ministry said that the government is in the stage of reviewing all options, including whether to blacklist her.
"Whether to add her to the sanctions list is one of the options that are carefully being reviewed," Jeong Joon-hee, a ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing. "But it is not the time to reveal specifics."
In March, the South unveiled its own sanctions, including a ban on the entry of vessels into South Korea in response to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests early this year.
It also blacklisted scores of key North Korean officials and organizations suspected of being involved in the development of nuclear and missile programs. But the North's leader Kim Jong-un and his sister were not included on the list.
Kim Yo-jong is known to serve as a vice director of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's propaganda and agitation department, whose works, analysts say, undermine North Koreans' rights to know.
In July, the United States slapped sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over human rights violations for the first time.
Robert King, Washington's special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told Yonhap News Agency last month that the U.S. is reviewing whether it can further impose sanctions on other North Korean officials, including Kim Yo-jong. (Yonhap)
Seoul is working on new punitive measures against North Korea for its fifth nuclear test in September at a time when the United Nations Security Council is discussing new sanctions over the provocation.
South Korea's unification ministry said that the government is in the stage of reviewing all options, including whether to blacklist her.
"Whether to add her to the sanctions list is one of the options that are carefully being reviewed," Jeong Joon-hee, a ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing. "But it is not the time to reveal specifics."
In March, the South unveiled its own sanctions, including a ban on the entry of vessels into South Korea in response to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests early this year.
It also blacklisted scores of key North Korean officials and organizations suspected of being involved in the development of nuclear and missile programs. But the North's leader Kim Jong-un and his sister were not included on the list.
Kim Yo-jong is known to serve as a vice director of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's propaganda and agitation department, whose works, analysts say, undermine North Koreans' rights to know.
In July, the United States slapped sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over human rights violations for the first time.
Robert King, Washington's special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told Yonhap News Agency last month that the U.S. is reviewing whether it can further impose sanctions on other North Korean officials, including Kim Yo-jong. (Yonhap)
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