U.S. Hits North Korean Military Officials with Sanctions Over Russia and Missile Development

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on high-ranking officials involved in North Korea’s military support of Russia and ballistic missile development. On Monday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the addition of nine individuals and seven entities associated with North Korea to its sanctions list. The State Department also designated additional entities and individuals linked to North Korea for their involvement in ballistic missile development.

The latest sanctions include Kim Young Bok, Deputy Chief of the Korean People’s Army General Staff, and Ri Chang Ho, Director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau. According to the Department of the Treasury, these individuals were deployed to Russia along with North Korean military personnel in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, with their roles highlighted explicitly in the announcement.

The sanctions also target Pak Jong Chon, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea; No Kwang Chol, Minister of National Defense; and Kim Kum Chol, President of Kim Il Sung Military University. Pak is known as a close military aide to the North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un. He has frequently accompanied Kim on activities such as intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test launches and inspections of military factories.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has also added organizations and individuals, both inside and outside North Korea, to the sanctions list for their support of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) development. Korea Mandal Credit Bank was sanctioned for supporting North Korea’s materials procurement. Choe Chol Ryong, the Korea Kwangson Banking Corporation (KKBC) representative in Dandong, China, was sanctioned for involvement in cash smuggling between North Korea and China. Kim Myong Jin, the head of the Korea Daesong Bank’s Beijing branch, was included in facilitating illicit financial activities.

All assets of individuals or entities sanctioned by the U.S. are immediately frozen within the United States, and entry into the U.S. and transactions with U.S. entities are officially prohibited. Acting Deputy Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brad Smith stated, “Kim Jong Un’s ICBM tests and deepening military support from Russia pose a threat to regional stability and support Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.”

The U.S. Department of State has added the Second Academy of Natural Sciences’ Foreign Affairs Division to the sanctions list. The institution is a key organization leading North Korea’s development of ICBMs and SLBMs and has already been included in the U.S. and UN sanctions lists. North Korean nationals Lim Ryong Nam and Kim Yon Hui, a married couple, have also been sanctioned for their ongoing efforts since 2018 to procure aluminum powder needed for ballistic missile propulsion systems.