N. KOREAN DEFECTOR’S DRAMATIC ESCAPE CAUGHT ON VIDEO

WASHINGTON DC: The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on 13 Chinese and North Korean organisations Washington accused of helping evade nuclear restrictions against Pyongyang and supporting the country through trade of commodities like coal.

The US Treasury announced the action one day after President Donald Trump put North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism, on its website.

“This designation will impose further sanctions and penalties on North Korea and related persons, and supports our maximum pressure campaign to isolate the murderous regime,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.

The latest sanctions included blacklisting three Chinese companies, Dandong Kehua Economy & Trade Co, Dandong Xianghe Trading Co and Dandong Hongda Trade Co, which the Treasury Department said had done more than US$750 million (RM3.08 billion) in combined trade with North Korea over almost five years until Aug 31.

It said they were involved in coal, iron ore, lead, zinc and silver ore, lead metal and ferrous products as well as computers.

The sanctions also blacklisted Sun Sidong and his company, Dandong Dongyuan Industrial Co.

In a June report, Washington think tank C4ADS said the firm was part of an interconnected network of Chinese companies that account for a vast share of trade with North Korea.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated China’s opposition to unilateral sanctions by other countries, adding that it could investigate for itself any contravention of its laws or international obligations.

“If other parties wish to have effective cooperation with China on this issue and really have a grasp of certain matters, they can share intelligence with China and cooperate with China to appropriately handle the issue,” Lu said yesterday. Agencies