US sanctions North Korean missile programme experts
RUSSIA OFFERS TO MEDIATE Reiterates proposal to try and ease tensions
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW: The US announced sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their country’s ballistic missile programme on Tuesday, while Russia reiterated an offer to mediate to ease tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.
The new US steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea - which has defied years of multilateral and bilateral sanctions - to abandon a weapons programme aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the US.
The US Treasury named the officials as Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol. It said Kim was reportedly a key figure in North Korea’s efforts to switch its missile programme from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.
“Treasury is targeting leaders of North Korea’s ballistic missile programs, as part of our maximum pressure campaign to isolate (North Korea) and achieve a fully denuclearised Korean Peninsula,” treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
The largely symbolic steps block any property or interests the two might have within US jurisdiction and prohibit any dealings by US citizens with them.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin, which has long called for the two sides to hold negotiations, said it was ready to act as a mediator if the United States and North Korea were willing for it to play such a role.
“Russia’s readiness to clear the way for de-escalation is obvious,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Asked to comment on the offer, a spokesman for the US State Department, Justin Higgins, said the US “has the ability to communicate with North Korea through a variety of diplomatic channels,” and added:
“We want the North Korean regime to understand that there is a different path that it can choose, however it is up to North Korea to change course and return to credible negotiations.”