The move by the United States was described as “the worst hostile act” against the country in a statement issued by Pyongyang’s foreign ministry carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
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The U.S. Department of Treasury announced the measures on Kim and ten other North Korean officials on Tuesday. The sanctions would bar United States individuals and businesses from dealing with Kim and the other officials named and would freeze any assets that they might have in the US.
China has opposed unilateral sanctions and claimed that the human rights situation in North Korea is not a threat to global peace and security.
“Kim Jong-un has executed more than a hundred high-ranking officials since killing (his uncle) Jang Song-thaek”, Rep. Ha Tae-Keung of the ruling Saenuri Party said, adding Kim can be considered a serial killer.
In a report by the U.S. State Department to Congress, Kim Jong Un topped a list of those responsible for serious human rights abuses and censorship in North Korea. They include 10 other individuals besides Kim and five government ministries and departments, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement. Last month, the Treasury Department declared North Korea a “primary money laundering concern” – the toughest action it can take to discourage banks in any jurisdiction dealing with the country.
Asked if the United States was asking other nations to reduce the employment of North Koreans, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman noted that an executive order that Obama signed on March 16 provided tools under which Washington could target such labor.
“This is the worst hostility and an open declaration of war against the DPRK as it has gone far beyond the confrontation over the “human rights issue”.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, is hoping that China will pressure its North Korean ally to cooperate on human rights despite Beijing’s own abysmal human rights record, according to Reuters.
The Ministry of State Security administers North Korea’s vast network of political prison camps, where detainees are subjected to beatings, starvation, sexual assault, forced abortions and infanticide.
“Considering the sanctions name Kim Jong Un, the reaction from Pyongyang will be epic”, he said.
Experts predict a backlash from Pyongyang, with continued soured relations with Seoul, which have worsened since North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January.
North Korea, one of the most isolated countries in the world, has always been under economic sanctions for its nuclear program.
Mr Kirby said: “Whether it’ll have a dramatic impact on Kim Jong-Un and his decisions, I can’t say”.
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Both events were in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions barring North Korea from engaging in nuclear and ballistic missile activity.
