A senior U.S. envoy said Monday that Washington will adopt new sanctions "in the next several weeks" on North Korea that could isolate North Korean entities and individuals suspected of
illicit activities from the international financial and commercial system.
"Our new measures will allow us to designate entities and individuals involved in" such activities as trade in conventional weapons and
counterfeiting U.S. dollars, said Robert Einhorn, the State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, during a press
conference in Seoul.
The envoy said that the blacklisting will lead to the blocking of their assets or properties under the control of a U.S. person or bank. He also said that North Korea makes hundreds of millions of dollars through those illicit activities, which can be used to "support the country's nuclear or military programs or fund luxury goods purchases."
Officials and analysts have said that the measures themselves are not expected to have much impact on Pyongyang as the communist nation has few assets and financial transactions in the U.S. But they could prove painful to the North if Washington's blacklisting leads to financial institutions in other nations, halting dealings with targeted entities, they said.
"By publicly naming these entities, these measures can have the broader effect of isolating them from the international financial and commercial system," he said.
Einhorn said that the U.S. will seek support from third-party countries for sanctions on Pyongyang.
"We will approach the government of that country and say, 'Look at this activity, you need to shut it down,'" he said. "We will go out diplomatically and seek their cooperation. And their cooperation will be very important."
Einhorn also urged China, North Korea's last remaining major ally, to be a "responsible stakeholder" and cooperate in imposing sanctions, saying Beijing is "critical" when it comes to implementing sanctions against North Korea and Iran.