US sanctions small Russian bank for transactions on behalf of North Korea

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on a small Russian bank as well as Chinese and North Korean firms for handling financial transactions for North Korea in violation of United Nations bans aimed at pressuring Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programme.

“The United States will continue to enforce UN and US sanctions and shut down illicit revenue streams to North Korea,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

“Our sanctions will remain in place until we have achieved the final, fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea,” he added.

The Treasury Department sanctioned Agrosoyuz Commercial Bank for facilitating a “significant transaction” on behalf of an individual designated for weapons of mass destruction-related activities in connection with North Korea.

The Treasury said the individual – Han Jang-su, the Moscow-based representative of Foreign Trade Bank (FTB), North Korea’s primary foreign exchange bank – and his deputy, Ri Jong-won, should be expelled from Russia under UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea.