Russia imposes sanctions on N. Korea

Russia has followed Switzerland in joining international sanctions on North Korea, freezing North Korean assets and halting financial transactions with the North.

Russia's central bank on Thursday (local time) announced measures to implement the United Nations Security Council’s sanctioning the North following Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test. A Seoul official said that the Swiss sanctions freeze the assets of the North Korean government and the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and halts all financial transactions with North Korean financial institutions in Russia and Russian financial outlets in the North.

With the deadline for the submission of implementations of the U.N. Security Council resolution in the North due June 2, many countries around the world have begun in earnest their sanctions on the communist state. Russia had supplied crude oil to the North and expanded its economic cooperation projects. Some expect that Russia’s latest sanctions will deal a blow to the North Korean economy.

The Council of the European Union passed its own sanctions against North Korea on Thursday, adding 18 individuals, including senior military officers, and one organization, to its sanctions list.