US blacklists North Korea business interests in China, Russia

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says the US is systematically targeting individuals and entities that finance Kim Jong Un’s government and its weapons programs, and help it evade sanctions.

The Trump administration has imposed a slew of sanctions on North Korean financial and business networks in China and Russia in the latest effort to cut off revenues for its nuclear and missile development.

In this Dec 8, 2012, file photo, Chinese paramilitary policemen build a fence near a concrete marker depicting the North Korean and Chinese national flags with the words "China North Korea Border" at a crossing in the Chinese border town of Tumen in eastern China's Jilin province. (AP Photo)

The Treasury Department also blacklisted five North Korean shipping companies and six vessels.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says the US is systematically targeting individuals and entities that finance Kim Jong Un’s government and its weapons programs, and help it evade sanctions.

Among those targeted on Wednesday were 10 representatives in China and Russia of the Korea Ryonbong General Corporation, which supports the North’s defense industry and already is under US and UN sanctions.

Americans are barred from dealing with them. Washington also wants them expelled from countries where they reside.