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South Korea has imposed unilateral sanctions on 18 North Koreans, barring any financial transactions between those sanctioned and any South Koreans, as part of international efforts to dry up Pyongyang’s illegal cash flows. According to an official government announcement by the finance minister uploaded on the Interior Ministry’s website,all 18 individuals on which the South Korean sanctions were imposed were directly affiliated to North Korean banks.
According to the announcement 14 of those named were based in China, two were based in Libya while the remaining two were based in Russia. As of the announcement today, South Korea had North Korea sanctions imposed on 97 individuals.
The announcement came a day ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to South Korea as part of his 12-day Asia tour, where he is expected to discuss North Korea’s nuclear and missile programme at length with government officials in Seoul.