Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

South Korea’s government announced the inclusion of eighteen North Korean citizens to the blacklist on November 6 as part of international efforts aimed to end funding of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

This was stated in the message of the South Korean Foreign Ministry, TASS reported.

The unilateral sanctions targeted managers and employees of the branches of five banks in several countries, including China, Russia and Libya, and barred any financial transactions between those sanctioned and any South Koreans.

Under the sanctions were the representative of the Korean United Development Bank in Moscow, Li Ying-soon, and the representative of the DPRK Foreign Trade Bank in Vladivostok, Chu Hyok.

The list also includes 14 representatives of the Bank for Foreign Trade of the DPRK, the Korean Joint Development Bank, the banks of “Taeson”, “Islim” and “East Land” in China, as well as two employees in Libya.

The Foreign Ministry claims that all citizens of North Korea included in the sanctions list participated in operations aimed at financing the country's nuclear program. The document emphasizes that these steps "will help to block illegal currency flows to North Korea."

The ministry also noted that it will continue its efforts to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue.

The current decision of Seoul is of more symbolic nature and the sanctions are expected to have little impact on North Korea’s illegal activities, since all trade and financial exchanges have been barred since May 2010, according to the experts.

The active phase of the crisis on the Korean peninsula began in August 2017, when Pyongyang tested ballistic missiles and announced the successful testing of the hydrogen bomb.

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously imposed a set of sanctions against North Korea on September 11 over the country’s hydrogen bomb test which was conducted on September 3.

The sanctions included limits on import of crude oil and oil products, a ban on textile exports and new visas for North Korean oversees workers.

However, North Korea tested another missile on September 15 in response to the latest set of sanctions imposed by the UN.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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