U.S. imposes sanctions on Russian entities, individual for facilitating 'illicit payment ...

U.S. imposes sanctions on Russian entities, individual for facilitating "illicit payment mechanisms" with N. Korea

미 재무부, 북한과 불법 금융거래 '러 은행•개인 제재'

The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on a network of five entities and one individual based in Russia and a Russia-occupied region for having supported illicit payment mechanisms with North Korea.
Our North Korean affairs Kim Jung-sil reports.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released a statement on Thursday, local time, that it had designated a network of five entities and one individual for assisting North Korea and Russia to establish "illicit payment mechanisms."
The parties held accountable are based in Russia and the Russia-occupied Georgian region of South Ossetia said the statement.

In particular, MRB Bank based in Georgia's South Ossetia region acted as "a cut-out" for a designated Russian bank to establish "a secret banking relationship" with North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank (FTB).
The Russian bank facilitated cash deposits from the North Korean bank (FTB) through Russian entities, to ensure the delivery of millions of dollars and rubles to the North's bank accounts at MRB Bank.
The statement said at least some of the North Korean accounts at MRB "were used to pay for fuel exports" from Russia to North Korea.

It noted that "Russia has become increasingly dependent" on North Korea for weapons procurement and economic cooperation, adding that Thursday's sanctions demonstrate the "Putin regime's use of illicit financial schemes" to enable North Korea to access the international banking systems which violate multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The U.S. government added that the sanctions demonstrate its commitment "to exposing and disrupting networks that facilitate the funding of the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs and support Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine."
Kim Jung-sil, Arirang News

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2024-09-20, 18:00 (KST)