USA imposes sanctions against Russian company for illegal transfer of funds to North Korea
On September 13th, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against two companies registered in Russia and China using North Korean capital. Both companies are engaged in the field of information technology.
According to US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Chinese company China Silver Star, established by a North Korean citizen, Jong Song Hwa and its Russia-based sister company Volasys Silver Star, registered in Vladivostok, were engaged in the transfer” of “illicit revenue to North Korea” from China and Russia to the DPRK.
“These actions are intended to stop the flow of illicit revenue to North Korea from overseas information technology workers disguising their true identities and hiding behind front companies, aliases, and third-party nationals," Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
The United States is continuing to put pressure on Pyongyang as part of negotiations on nuclear disarmament on the Korean peninsula, and new sanctions are one of the measures of such pressure. Mnuchin noted that the US will continue to impose sanctions until it has achieved “total denuclearization of North Korea.”
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met in June in Singapore and signed an agreement under which North Korea pledged to stop implementation of its nuclear missile program.