US curbs on DPRK hit firms in China

The Trump administration sanctioned three Chinese trading companies on Tuesday as well as shipping firms and vessels from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as the US seeks to disrupt funding of Kim Jong-un’s nuclear program.

One individual, 13 entities and 20 vessels were sanctioned, the Treasury Department said.

“These designations include companies that have engaged in trade with North Korea cumulatively worth hundreds of millions of dollars. We are also sanctioning the shipping and transportation companies, and their vessels, that facilitate North Korea’s trade and its deceptive maneuvers,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

China has long opposed such US “long-arm jurisdiction” in accordance with one country’s domestic law. China also insists that sanctions against the DPRK must be within the framework of the UN Security Council.

China said sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) must be within the UN Security Council framework.

The designations include three Chinese companies that cumulatively export about $650 million worth of goods to DPRK and import about $100 million in goods such as computers, iron, zinc ore and other minerals, the department said. None of the firms are publicly traded.

US President Donald Trump on Monday announced he would designate DPRK a state sponsor of terrorism, reinforcing its status as an international pariah.

“Currently, the situation on the Korean Peninsula is complicated and sensitive,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a press conference.