The US Treasury Department Friday imposed sanctions on five entities accused of supporting North Korea’s development of weapons of mass destruction (WPD) and ballistic missile programs.

In August 2010, the US Department of State designated the Munitions Industry Department (MID) for its involvement with or provision of support for North Korea’s WPD programs. The entities currently sanctioned include the Ministry of Rocket Industry (MoRI) for being owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the MID. This is essentially to restrict the MID from procuring the requisite financial and material support that help them bypass the sanctions previously imposed on them.

The remainder of the companies against whom sanctions have been implemented include four trading companies—Hapjanggang Trading Corporation, Korea Rounsan Trading Corporation, Sungnisan Trading Corporation, and Unchon Trading Corporation—for being connected to MoRI and engaged in activities likely to generate revenue for the same.

These sanctions come in light of the ballistic missile launches engaged in by North Korea, with the most recent ones on February 26, March 4 and March 24.

The UN Security Council in a meeting on March 25, 2022 extended the mandate of the expert panel assisting the committee overseeing its sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea until April 30, 2023. The UN Secretary General has vehemently opposed the ballistic missile testing as a clear violation of international standards.

The sanctions are critical because there is serious concern regarding the possibility of North Korea soon testing a nuclear weapon.