Go to contents

U.S. Treasury adds N. Korean leader's sister on sanctions list

U.S. Treasury adds N. Korean leader's sister on sanctions list

Posted January. 13, 2017 07:11,   

Updated January. 13, 2017 07:31

한국어

Incumbent and newly appointed U.S. politicians, who are experiencing much fraction in the process of power transition, sent a flurry of messages in unison against North Korea and China. This appears to be a counter to Pyongyang’s recent announcement to test ICBMs and China’s opposition to the deployment of THAAD system on the Korean Peninsula, which is fraying ties between South Korea and the U.S. It is projected that the entire East Asia will suffer extreme tensions, owing to the strained relations between the U.S. and China, and those between North Korea and the U.S.

On Wednesday (local time), the U.S. Department of Treasury added seven North Korean senior officials to its sanctions list, including North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong, who is serving as vice director of the Workers’ Party of Korea Propaganda and Agitation Department, on charges of human rights violations. The Treasury made clear that it will impose stronger sanctions against the North Korean regime by blacklisting the sister of the North Korean leader after adding him in the bad books first in July last year. According to the statement announced by the Treasury, the U.S. will further add persons and groups to the follow-up reports in order to hold accountable North Korean officials involved in the infringement of human rights.

In a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Rex Tillerson, a candidate for the State Secretary of the Trump administration, defined North Korea as “adversary” and “bad actor,” expressing his willingness to play hardball against the regime. Tillerson denounced China’s failure to implement sanctions on the North, blasting China as illegally dominating territories in the South China Sea, breaking international rules in trade, and stealing intellectual property from the U.S. He implied that he would impose secondary boycott (secondary sanctions) if necessary on Chinese companies doing business with the North, saying, “It would be a proper measure to make sure China follows up on the implementation of North Korean sanctions.”



Seung-Heon Lee ddr@donga.com