The U.S. Sanctions Individuals and Entities Linked to North Korea's Missile Programs

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, in coordination with South Korea and Japan, added individuals and entities supporting North Korea to its sanctions list, aimed at the "illegal development of weapons of mass destruction" in the "ballistic missile" program. The U.S. Treasury Department's statement indicated that in response to North Korea's unsuccessful satellite launch, sanctions would be imposed on two individuals and one entity supporting North Korea's ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs. The sanctions announcement, issued following North Korea's failed attempt to launch a spy satellite on August 23, identified two individuals named John Jin-young and Sergey Mikhailovich Kuzlov, along with a sanctioned company called "Inlect." The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) directed this action in coordination with South Korea and Japan as part of a collective effort to target networks supporting North Korea's weapons of mass destruction. North Korea's ballistic missile programs are considered a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. Earlier, Voice of America reported that as tensions on the Korean Peninsula rise with increased military readiness from South Korea and the U.S. against North Korea's nuclear weapons program, North Korea immediately launched two ballistic missiles into the sea off its eastern coast following the arrival of a U.S. nuclear submarine in South Korea. According to Reuters, as tensions escalated with the arrival of a U.S. nuclear submarine in South Korea, North Korea reacted angrily, stating that "such a deployment could guarantee the use of nuclear weapons."