The United States is monitoring front companies that North Korea is using to evade international sanctions, the U.S. State Department says.
Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirmed that Washington has uncovered more than 100 North Korean accounts in foreign banks involved in illicit activities, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports.
Crowley said Monday additional steps are being taken to cut off money flowing to North Korea from its trafficking in arms and counterfeit goods.
He promised to have more information on the front companies in coming weeks.
Yonhap said it was told by a diplomatic source in Washington that the United States is planning to blacklist more North Korean entities and individuals in the coming weeks so international financial institutions will cut ties with them.
The source denied reports that a special adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Europe recently to discuss freezing North Korean
assets in European banks.