The United States sanctioned three individuals with ties to North Korea's nuclear programme on Thursday under a UN Security Council resolution that rolled out new sanctions, dpa reported.
Under the fresh sanctions regime the US designated Mun Cho'ng-Ch'o'l, a representative of Tanchon Commercial Bank, and Yo'n Cho'ng-Nam and Ko Ch'o'l-Chae, representatives of Korea Mining Development Corporation. The move freezes any of their assets under US jurisdiction.
"These individuals are important actors within North Korea's proliferation network who have been working to gain access to international markets," said David Cohen, the Treasury Department's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
"We will continue to work with our partners around the world to expose these operations and hold North Korea accountable for its provocative and destabilizing acts."