Strict, North Korea Conducts Two Missile Launch Tests, President Joe Biden Impresses Sanctions

Kim Jong-un attends North Korea's test launch of a hypersonic missile. (Source: KCNA)

JAKARTA - The United States (US) administration under President Joe Biden has imposed sanctions for the first time, with North Korea's weapons program a target after the country carried out two missile launch tests since last week.

The sanctions target six North Koreans, one Russian and one Russian company that Washington says is responsible for procuring goods for the program from Russia and China.

The US Treasury said the measures were aimed at preventing North Korea's program from progressing, as well as hindering its efforts to develop weapons technology.

US President Joe Biden's administration has failed to engage Pyongyang in dialogue to persuade it to give up its nuclear bombs and missiles since taking office in January last year.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington remains committed to diplomacy with North Korea.

"What we have seen in recent days, only underscores our belief, if we are to make progress, we need to engage in that dialogue," he told a regular news briefing.

Price did not respond when asked why no Chinese individuals or entities had been targeted, or specifically when asked if China and Russia were doing enough to enforce sanctions, but stressed the importance of all UN countries doing so, adding: "Obviously we haven't seen all of it."

North Korea's test launch of a hypersonic missile. (Source: KCNA)

Wednesday's action froze the US-related assets of those targeted and banned all transactions with them.

The Treasury Department said the sanctions followed North Korea's six ballistic missile launches since September, each in violation of a UN Security Council resolution.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said the move targets "the continued use of North Korea's foreign representatives to procure goods illegally for weapons."

North Korea's latest launch is "further evidence that it continues to advance illicit programs, despite calls by the international community for diplomacy and denuclearization," Nelson said in a statement.

It said the State Department had flagged Russia-based Choe Myong Hyon, Russian citizen Roman Anatolyevich Alar and Russian company Parsek LLC for "activities or transactions that materially contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery."

It said Choe Myong Hyon, a representative of the Vladivostok-based Second North Korean Academy of Natural Sciences (SANS), had been working to procure telecommunications-related equipment from Russia.

Meanwhile, four representatives of North Korea's SANS subordinate organization based in China, Sim Kwang Sok, Kim Song Hun, Kang Chol Hak and Pyon Kwang Chol, and one North Korean based in Russia, O Yong Ho, were also targeted.

Sim Kwang Sok, based in Dalian, has been working to procure steel alloys and Kim Song Hun, who is based in Shenyang, procured software and chemicals, the Treasury said.

In a statement, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said, at least between 2016 and 2021, O Yong Ho had worked with Parsek LLC and Alar, the company's director of development, to procure several items with ballistic missile applications, including Kevlar yarn, aramid fiber, aviation oils, ball bearings and precision milling machines.

Foreign Minister Blinken said Alar also gave O Yong Ho instructions for making a solid rocket fuel mixture.

"The procurement and supply relationship between O Yong Ho, Roman Anatolyevich Alar, and Parsek LLC is a major source of goods and technology that can be applied missiles to the DPRK (North Korea) missile program," the statement said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with his sister Kim Yo-jong and other officials attend a test launch of North Korea's hypersonic missile. (Source: KCNA)

It was also said that O Yong Ho had been working to procure items including aramid fiber, stainless steel tubing and ball bearings from an unnamed "third country".

Separately, the North Korean Mission to the United Nations, Russia and the Chinese embassy in Washington and Russian companies did not respond to requests for comment.

North Korean media said leader Kim Jong Un observed Tuesday's hypersonic missile test, the second in less than a week after he vowed in a New Year's speech to support the military with cutting-edge technology.

Tuesday's test came hours after the US mission to the United Nations, which is joined by Albania, France, Ireland, Japan and Britain, condemned last week's launch and called on UN states to fulfill sanctions obligations.

The UN resolution prohibits North Korea's ballistic and nuclear missile tests and imposes sanctions.

Anthony Ruggiero, a sanctions expert in former President Donald Trump's administration who failed to persuade Kim to give up his nuclear program, despite unprecedented engagement, called the new sanctions "a great start."

However, he said the Biden administration had allowed a reversal of the sanctions pressure and added: "President Biden needs to continue the appointment to increase pressure on the Kim Jong-un regime."