South to unveil own N. Korea sanctions on Friday

By Yi Whan-woo

South Korea will announce its own sanctions against North Korea, Friday, in a follow-up move to the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC) adoption of a fresh resolution on Pyongyang over its nuclear ambitions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.

The United States and Japan are also expected to unveil their own measures against North Korea this week.

“Our new sanctions will be announced at 10 a.m. at the government complex in downtown Seoul,” a ministry official said.

Some officials said the government may blacklist a score of individuals and entities that are suspected of having engaged in illegal financial activities to fund North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The government is also expected to bolster control over North Korea’s maritime shipping and request Seoul’s allies to restrict North Korean authorities from entering their respective countries.

The exchange of goods between the two Koreas is also likely to be restricted further.

The three allies’ pressure against the Kim Jong-un regime is in line with the UNSC’s approval of Resolution 2321, Wednesday.

The new resolution is aimed at closing loopholes in the UNSC’s last resolution ― 2270 ― by slashing North Korea’s exports of coal by 60 percent while tightening control over Pyongyang’s financial transactions and shipping activities abroad.

“It is expected that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will announce their own independent sanctions almost simultaneously,” Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said.

He said the three allies will try to maximize the effectiveness of their sanctions, claiming that “such measures have always been a step ahead of the UNSC resolutions in terms of level of harshness.”

“They can hurt North Koreans more than the UNSC sanctions,” Yun added.

The U.S. is anticipated to blacklist companies in third countries that are suspected of supplying goods being used to develop nuclear weapons as well as other weapons of mass destruction, according to diplomatic sources.

Japanese media reported Thursday that their government will convene a National Security Council meeting today to discuss how to slap sanctions on North Korea.

The possible measures may ban North Korean sympathizers in Japan, including ethnic Koreans, from entering the country after they’ve traveled abroad and visited North Korea in the past and had a record of helping Pyongyang’s nuclear technology.

Tokyo may also include Chinese companies on the list of individuals and entities that are subject to asset freezing due to their relation to North Korea’s nuclear program.

South Korea previously imposed sanctions against North Korea, March 8, after the UNSC approved Resolution 2270, March 2, in response to Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test in January.

The UNSC passed Resolution 2321 in response to the fifth North Korean nuclear test, Sept. 9.