US imposes sanctions on 3 NKorean execs

WASHINGTON D.C.: The United States on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) imposed sanctions on three North

In actions required by Congress, the Trump administration said it would seize any US assets of Choe Ryong Hae, described as the righthand man of leader Kim Jong Un, and two others over their roles in suppression of freedom of speech.

“Standing up for such rights and freedoms is a foreign policy priority that represents the best traditions of the United States,” State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said.

“Human rights abuses in North Korea remain among the worst in the world and include extrajudicial killings, forced labor, torture, prolonged arbitrary detention, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence,” he said.

The State Department is required by a 2016 law to produce a report on North Korean human rights for Congress twice a year. But its submission on Monday — International Human Rights Day

as Trump championed diplomacy with North Korea that focused squarely on its nuclear program.

“The United States has consistently condemned the North

egregious abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and this administration will continue to take action against human rights abusers around the globe,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement announcing the sanctions.

Trump, however, has openly played down human rights concerns when preserving relationships with allies, notably Saudi

Arabia. The sanctions will seize any assets - tions with them.

Such restrictions may have little

Choe is a lifetime confidant of Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, and in the past has been described as the effective number two in controlling the military.

He is often trusted to make for-