Chinese firm accused of evading US sanctions against North Korea

firm that is already sanctioned, Korea Kwangson Banking Corporation.

International concern over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs is deepening following its fifth and largest atomic test explosion this month, its second this year. That’s fueling worries that North Korea is moving closer to its goal of a nuclear-armed missile that could one day strike the U.S. mainland.

Last week, Chinese authorities said they were investigating Hongxiang, based in Dandong, a northeastern city on the North Korean border. Police and China’s foreign ministry said the company was suspected of un- specified “serious economic crimes.” That was an unusually explicit announcement for Beijing, whose dealings with the North are shrouded in secrecy, in a sign of growing frustration with its traditional ally.

China signed on in March to the stiffest U.N. sanctions yet that limit trade with the North. It has tightened controls on cross-border flows of goods, but that hasn’t allayed suspicions that North Korea can still conduct illicit business through China. U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibit nuclear weapons development by the North and all ballistic missile activity.

Monday’s action by the Treasury Department blocks any property Hongxiang and the executives — Ma Xiaohong, Zhou Jianshu, Hong Jinhua, and Luo Chuanxu — may have in the U.S., and prohibits Americans from doing business with them.

“Today’s action exposes a key illicit network supporting North Korea’s weapons proliferation,” said Adam J. Szubin, acting Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. “Treasury will take forceful action to pressure North Korea’s proliferation network and to protect the U.S. financial system from abuse,” he said.