US blacklists Chinese bank, company and two nationals to pressure Beijing to rein in Pyongyang

The US will impose unilateral sanctions on one Chinese bank, two individuals and one shipping company over their alleged “illicit financing” and “continued support” of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced on Thursday at the White House.

The US Treasury has identified the Bank of Dandong “to be a foreign financial institution of primary money-laundering concern”, serving as “a gateway for North Korea to access the US and international financial systems – facilitating millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes”, Mnuchin said.

The Treasury’s move will “require US banks to ensure that the Bank of Dandong does not access the US financial system directly or indirectly through other foreign banks,” Mnuchin said.

The two Chinese nationals are Wei Sun, who is being sanctioned for links to the Foreign Trade Bank of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Hong Ri Li, for his links to North Korean banking executive Song-hyok Ri. The sanctions also target the Dalian Global Unity Shipping Co Limited of Dalian, China, according to a statement released by the Treasury.

The move came on the same day as US President Trump’s meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House, with the agenda including a “new approach” to rein in North Korea, according to Trump’s national security adviser H.R. McMaster.