US issues new NKorea sanctions after missile, nuke tests

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

The U.S. on Wednesday issued new sanctions on North Korea, just hours after Pyongyang sentenced an American student to 15 years of hard labor.

The economic penalties are related to North Korea’s “illicit” Jan. 6 nuclear test, and ballistic missile launch roughly a month later, according to the White House.

“We will continue to impose costs on North Korea until it comes into compliance with its international obligations,” the White House said in a statement. President Barack Obama said in a letter to lawmakers that the North’s nuclear and ballistic activities “increasingly imperils the United States and its allies”.

“The order is not targeted at the people of North Korea, but rather is aimed at the government of North Korea and its activities that threaten the United States and others,” he wrote.

The new measures include expanded restrictions on individuals working in the country’s transportation, mining, energy or financial services industries, any individuals working for or on behalf of the government, human rights abusers, government-sanctioned hackers, and those responsible for censorship in the North.

The export of goods to the North, new investment and facilitation or approval of exports and investment, are also prohibited.

In total, 17 North Korean government officials and organizations were blacklisted, according to the Treasury Department, and 20 vessels were blocked Wednesday under Obama's new order and previously existing sanctions

The measure comes just hours after the North announced it had sentenced American student Otto Warmbier to 15 years of hard labor for what it said was the theft of a political banner.

The UN Security Council unanimously implemented its own set of sanctions against the North earlier this month.

They were the harshest penalties faced by the hermit kingdom so far and included mandatory inspections on all cargo to or from the North, the prohibition of minerals such as gold and rare earth metals, and a complete embargo on all arms sales to the country.

Undeterred, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced Tuesday that his country would conduct its fifth nuclear bomb test and new ballistic missile launches.

The announcement prompted Pyongyang’s neighbor to the south to warn that doing so result in “unbearable” global punishment.