2 NKorean officials in sanctions squeeze
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced sanctions Tuesday against two more North Korean officials for their alleged role in Pyongyang’s expanding ballistic missiles program.
The Treasury Department “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 denuclearized Korean Peninsula,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
The nuclear-armed country tested an intercontinental ballistic missile last month that U.S. officials said appeared capable of reaching New York or Washington, a significant milestone in the country’s growing arsenal.
Treasury identified the two North Korean officials as Kim Jong Sik, who “reportedly is a key figure” in the ballistic missile program and who led efforts to switch them from liquid to solid fuel. Using solid fuel makes missiles easier to hide before launch.
Treasury also sanctioned Ri Pyong Chol, who it said was “reported to be a key official” in the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The sanctions block banks, companies and individuals from doing any business with the targeted officials. It also allows the U.S. government to freeze any American assets owned by the officials, should they exist.
On Friday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to add more sanctions on North Korea, its third round this year. The new measures order North Koreans working abroad to return home within two years and ban nearly 90 percent of refined petroleum exports to the country.
Meanwhile, government and private analysts in South Korea said Tuesday that they expect North Korea will keep improving its nuclear and long-range ballistic missile capabilities next year to gain leverage to force Washington to make concessions, like the easing of sanctions.
North Korea will conduct at least one more missile test to master the re-entry technology for its warheads, the analysts said. But the North also is racing against time to secure full ICBM capabilities before new U.N. sanctions begin squeezing its economy, they said.
“Re-entry is a question North Korea must solve to boost its negotiating leverage and for its military and technological purposes,” Shin Beom-chul, a security analyst, said in a report published over the weekend by the government-run Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in Seoul. “For North Korea, there is a big difference between entering negotiations with the United States after acquiring full ICBM capabilities and starting such talks without them.”