The U.S. has sanctioned two North Korean entities for labor exports in violation of international sanctions.
The Treasury Department on Tuesday said it is targeting Namgang Trading Corporation, a North Korean trading firm, and Beijing Sukbakso, a China-based North Korean lodging facility, for facilitating Pyongyang's practice of sending laborers abroad.
The new action freezes the designated businesses' property and interests in the U.S. or in possession of Americans, and bans all dealings with them.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement that the exportation of North Korean workers generates illicit revenue for the North, in violation of United Nations sanctions.
Under a 2017 U.N. Security Council resolution, all U.N. member states were required to expel North Korean workers by December last year.■
<Photo: Yonhap News>
