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The US Treasury Department has targeted two North Korean and Russian companies involved in sending foreign workers. The Treasury Department evaluated the move as a demonstration of the UN Security Council resolution and its willingness to implement independent US sanctions. Reporter Ji Da-gyeom reports.
The United States Department of the Treasury announced on the 19th that it has imposed sanctions on two companies involved in sending illegal workers abroad.
The Office of Overseas Asset Control (OFAC) under the Ministry of Finance announced that it has added the ‘Chhosun Iron Industry General Trade’ and the Russian construction company ‘Mokran LLC’ to the ‘DND’ List.
He then explained the background to the sanctions, saying, “they have been involved in, promoted or assumed responsibility for the export of forced labor” to create funds for the North Korean government or the Labor Party.
The Finance Ministry said that Chosun Iron and Steel General Trade had been managing North Korean workers in Russia, and Russian companies had obtained work permits for North Korean workers under the agency’s name.
He added that the Russian construction company Mokran LLC has been receiving work permits for North Korean workers to enter Russia and find employment.
Finance Minister Steve Manusin said in a press release that “North Korea has a long history of exploiting and sending its people to work in difficult environments to financially support Pyongyang (the North Korean regime) and nuclear weapons programs. “.
He stressed that “countries that still accept North Korean workers must send these workers to their home countries.”
The Treasury Department said the imposition of the sanctions “shows the Treasury’s continued commitment to implementing and enforcing the United States and UN sanctions.”
Resolution 2397 (8) of the UN Security Council, adopted in December 2017, stipulated the obligation to return North Korean workers to their country of origin before December 22 of last year, and resolution 2375 approved in September the same year it prohibited the issuance of new work permits. I did.
The Treasury Department proposed Executive Order 13722, the first of which, as the basis for the national law that added the two agencies to the sanctions list, prohibited North Korea’s conduct related to the dispatch of foreign workers.
Furthermore, this measure was reinforced and revised in accordance with the final approval of the Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2020, which includes the ‘Automatic Hot Beer Banking Restriction Act (BRINK Act)’ (NKSPEA) . ) ‘.
The Finance Ministry explained that the Defense Authorization Law “intentionally engages in the export of North Korean labor in terms of generating substantial revenue for the North Korean regime, and requires the responsible or promoting individuals and institutions to impose sanctions.”
The Defense Authorization Act has included mandatory penalties for anyone involved in sending North Korean workers abroad.
In a call with the VOA on 19, investigator Jason Bartlett of the Center for New American Security (CNAS) noted that the Treasury Department first specified the Brink Act as the basis for sanctions not only in North Korea, but also in Russia, a third country.
[녹취: 바틀렛 연구원] “The main implications you would see from this is that the United States continues to expand its efforts to address sanctions evasion from North Korea and non-compliant countries, including China and Russia, but also trying to really focus on the high level of illicit trafficking of trafficking a person for work … “The main implications of the sanctions are that the US administration is not only targeting highly illegal transactions such as sending workers, but also continuing to expand efforts to address the actions of countries that have not yet complied with the sanctions like Russia and China.
Bartlett also said that the imposition of US sanctions is the right step in terms of reinforcing the UN Security Council resolutions on workers.
[녹취: 바틀렛 연구원] “The United States has a much more robust and comprehensive North Korean sanctions program, but I think this is another way the United States can add to the current one. [UN] sanction regimes against North Korea. So I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction in terms of tightening the sanctions that already exist.As the Sanctions Committee’s panel of experts on North Korea noted in its August annual interim report, the U.S. action could help repatriate workers, while some countries, such as Russia and China, are not yet implementing the provisions for the repatriation of workers.
The Treasury Department explained that the assets of sanctioned companies that are in the jurisdiction of the US or that are owned or controlled by national US individuals and organizations are frozen and must be reported. It added that individuals and organizations involved in certain transactions with sanctioned companies could be subject to sanctions.
In particular, for those who are sanctioned, “foreign financial institutions that deliberately promote significant financial transactions or provide significant financial services” warned that they could face a secondary boycott from the United States or sanctions from third parties.
The Finance Ministry imposed sanctions on North Korea for the first time in about eight months since March, and this is the third sanction issued this year.
The Finance Ministry sanctioned two Chinese nationals who participated in money laundering of cryptocurrencies stolen by North Korea’s Lazarus Group in March, and previously targeted two North Korean agencies related to North Korean workers sent abroad.
Meanwhile, the Overseas Assets Control Office announced that it had updated information on three institutions designated as subject to sanctions for participating in the export of North Korean workers.
Relevant targets are ‘Chhosun Leungrado Trade Company’, ‘GENCO’ (Korean General External Construction Corporation), a construction company under the North Korea External Construction Guidance Office, and ‘Samsung Internet Technology Company’, also known as Jenben Silver Bus.
The Finance Ministry explained that “these companies have been involved in sending North Korean workers to Russia and China under various pseudonyms.”
This is the news from VOA, Dagyeom Ji.
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