US, South Korea and Japan impose new sanctions on North Korea Haiti descends into chaos: criminal gang kills at least 12 villagers

The US and its allies South Korea and Japan have imposed new sanctions on individuals and entities associated with North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Three officials from North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party have been sanctioned, the US Treasury Department said Thursday (local time). The officials “played a leading role in[Noord-Korea’s]illicit weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs,” said Brian Nelson, chief of terrorism and financial intelligence.

According to the information, the measures include freezing the assets of those affected. North Korea is already subject to strong UN Security Council sanctions. For example, the US, South Korea, Japan and the European Union have repeatedly taken punitive measures against North Korea in recent years. UN resolutions bar the largely isolated country from nuclear testing and testing of ballistic missiles, which can be equipped with a nuclear warhead depending on the design.

South Korea has now blacklisted eight people and seven institutions for similar reasons to Washington. The country is also responding to the most recent test of a North Korean ICBM on Nov. 18, the foreign ministry in Seoul announced Friday. According to the Kyodo news agency, the government of Tokyo has decided to freeze the assets of two trading companies, a hacking group and another person. (cpf/sda/dpa)