On August 23, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea, attempted to launch a spy satellite into space. The launch of the carrier rocket violated United Nations Security Council resolutions that ban any launches by North Korea using ballistic technologies.
The DPRK’s ballistic missile program, which is part of its continued pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, poses a threat to international peace, stability, and security.
One of the major obstacles to DPRK’s ballistic missile development is lack of funding. Beginning in 2006, after North Korea performed its first nuclear test, a number of countries and international bodies, including the United States, imposed international sanctions against its government. Today, most sanctions imposed on North Korea are tailored to hinder its nuclear weapons program, including the means to finance it.
In the wake of the failed launch on August 23, OFAC, the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, designated Jon Jin Yong, Sergey Mikhaylovich Kozlov, and Intellekt LLC, pursuant to Executive Order 13687, for their involvement in generating revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s unlawful development of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
Jon Jin Yong, who is based in Russia, was designated for being an official of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which was sanctioned on March 15, 2016. Jon Jing Yong worked with Sergey Mikhaylovich Kozlov to coordinate the use of North Korean construction workers in Russia. He also led a team of North Korean information technology workers in Russia and worked with Russian nationals to obtain identification documents to validate his team’s accounts on freelance IT work platforms.
Sergey Mikhaylovich Kozlov assisted Jon Jin Yong in the procurement of items commonly used in the ship-building industry. Kozlov was designated for materially assisting, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Jon Jin Yong.
OFAC designated Intellekt LLC for being owned or controlled by Kozlov.
The U.S. Treasury Department is targeting supporters of the DPRK’s Weapons of Mass Destruction and ballistic missile programs, including those who help finance it. The United States will continue to implement and enforce existing sanctions while urging the DPRK to return to a diplomatic path and abandon its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
