US sanctions companies providing North Korea with ‘illegal revenue’

(CNN) — The US Treasury Department, on Wednesday, imposed sanctions on 3 companies and two individuals for providing North Korea with “illegal proceeds.”

The sanctions come months after Pyongyang fired several ballistic missiles amid international condemnation, most recently last month.

“North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs threaten international security and regional stability,” said US Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson, in a statement.

“The United States will remain committed to targeting the regime’s illicit global networks that generate revenue from these destabilizing activities,” he added.

The Treasury Department said, in a statement, that it imposed the sanctions on the companies because they are “subject to the control of the North Korean government or the ruling party,” and added that the North Korean government “uses commercial companies to obtain foreign currency, gather intelligence, and provide cover for intelligence agents.”

The ministry stated that one of those companies “has brought money to the North Korean government by conducting technical works and construction projects for regimes in the Middle East and Africa since the 1980s.”

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