South Korea to unveil own NK sanctions today

South Korea will announce its own sanctions against North Korea today in a follow-up move to the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC) adoption of a fresh resolution on Pyongyang over its nuclear ambitions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.

The United States and Japan are also expected to unveil their own measures against North Korea this week.

“Our new sanctions will be announced at 10 a.m. at the government complex in downtown Seoul,” a ministry official said.

Some officials said the government may blacklist a score of individuals and entities that are suspected of having engaged in illegal financial activities to fund North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The government is also expected to bolster control over North Korea’s maritime shipping and request Seoul’s allies to restrict North Korean authorities from entering their respective countries.

The exchange of goods between the two Koreas is also likely to be restricted further.

The three allies’ pressure against the Kim Jong-un regime is in line with the UNSC’s approval of Resolution 2321, Wednesday.

The new resolution is aimed at closing loopholes in the UNSC’s last resolution — 2270 — by slashing North Korea’s exports of coal by 60 percent while tightening control over Pyongyang’s financial transactions and shipping activities abroad.

“It is expected that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will announce their own independent sanctions almost simultaneously,” Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said.