Seoul, Dec. 2 (BNA): South Korea on Friday slapped sanctions on eight people and seven companies suspected of being involved in illegal activities to fund North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile programs.
The move, which bars South Koreans from conducting any kind of business with them without permission, was largely symbolic since there are few financial transactions between the two rival Koreas, according to the Associated Press.
The South Korean sanctions were announced shortly after the US Treasury Department announced that it had imposed sanctions on three members of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party who provided support for the country’s development of nuclear and ballistic weapons.
South Korea’s foreign ministry said Seoul’s sanctions were in response to North Korea’s growing arms threat, highlighted by last month’s test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that showed a possible range to reach the US mainland.
The eight people and seven companies targeted by Seoul have already been sanctioned by Washington and have been involved in a variety of North Korea’s efforts to evade United Nations Security Council sanctions to fund its weapons programme, including ship-to-ship fuel transfers and illicit exports, the ministry said. .
insignificant