Sanctions Profile: North Korea

Since 2016, the UN has introduced wide-ranging new sanctions on North Korea.

The EU has implemented all UN sanctions on North Korea, and has introduced its own sanctions.

Summary of Current UN Sanctions:

General

• Arms embargo
• Ban on the export to North Korea of items relevant to nuclear, ballistic missiles and other WMD-related programmes
• Ban on the export from North Korea of coal, iron and iron ore, gold, titanium ore, vanadium ore, copper, nickel, silver, zinc and rare earth minerals, lead and lead ore, food and agricultural products, machinery, electrical equipment, earth and stone including magnesite and magnesia, wood and vessels
• Ban on the export to North Korea of all industrial machinery, transportation vehicles, iron, steel and other metals
• Restriction on the export to North Korea of all refined petroleum products in excess of 500,000 barrels per 12-month period from 1 January 2018
• Restriction on the export to North Korea of crude oil in excess of 4 million barrels per 12-month period from 22 December 2017
• Ban on the export to North Korea of aviation fuel, jet fuel and rocket fuel
• Ban on the export to North Korea of all condensates and natural gas liquids
• Ban on the export to North Korea of luxury goods
• Ban on the export from North Korea of seafood
• Ban on the export from North Korea of textiles
• Ban on the export from North Korea of statues
• Requirement on Member States to inspect all cargo leaving or entering North Korea
• Requirement to seize, inspect, freeze and impound any vessel in Member State territorial waters found to be involved in prohibited activities
• Prohibition on Member States chartering their flagged vessels or aircraft to North Korea
• Requirement on Member States to de-register any vessel owned, operated, or crewed by North Korea
• Requirement on Member States to deny port entry to vessels owned or controlled by a designated individual/entity
• Prohibition on Members State nationals/entities from facilitating or engaging in ship-to-ship transfers to or from North Korean-flagged vessels of any goods or items that are being supplied, sold, or transferred to or from North Korea
• Requirement on Member States to expel North Korean diplomats who engage in illicit activities
• Requirement on Member States to limit North Korean diplomatic missions to one bank account each
• Ban on North Korean workers abroad (Member States must repatriate all North Korean nationals earning income within 24 months from 22 December 2017)
• Requirement on Member States to prevent the provision of financial services, including bulk cash and gold, the opening of banking subsidiaries, the provision of public financial support, new commitments for grants, and financial assistance or concessional loans that could contribute to North Korea’s prohibited programmes/activities, or to the evasion of sanctions
• Prohibition on Member States from opening any new branches, subsidiaries, or representative offices of North Korean banks (must also close all existing branches, subsidiaries and representative offices)
• Prohibition on Member States from opening any new representative offices, subsidiaries or bank accounts in North Korea (must also close all existing representative offices, subsidiaries and banking accounts)
• Prohibition on the opening, maintenance and operation of all joint ventures or cooperative entities, new or existing, with North Korean entities or individuals
• Requirement on Member States to terminate all joint ventures, ownership interests or correspondent banking relationships with North Korean banks in their territory
• Suspension of scientific and technical cooperation between Member States and North Korea (except for medical exchanges)

Targeted

• Asset freeze
• Travel ban

Designation Criteria

1. People and entities engaging in or providing support for (including through other illicit means) North Korea’s nuclear-related, other WMD-related and ballistic missile related programmes, or by persons or entities acting on their behalf or at their direction (family members of such persons may also be designated for the travel ban);
2. People and entities that have assisted with the evasion of sanctions or in violating the provisions of UNSC resolutions; and
3. People and entities that have contributed to (i) North Korea’s prohibted programmes, (ii) activites prohibited by UNSC resolutions, or (iii) the evasion of sanctions.

Summary of Current EU Sanctions:

General

The EU implements all UN sanctions on North Korea. By way of autonomous measures, the EU has also:

• prohibited investment in and with North Korea to all economic sectors;
• lowered the amount of personnel remittances that can be sent to North Korea from EUR 15,000 to EUR 5,000;
• expanded the list of luxury goods subject to an import and export ban; and
• prohibited the provision of computer services and services linked to mining and manufacturing in the chemical, mining, and refining industry to people and entities in North Korea.

Targeted

• Asset freeze
• Travel ban

The EU has also imposed its own sanctions listings, in addition to the UN listings that it implements.

Designation Criteria

People and entities designated by the UN Security Council as being involved in or supporting North Korea’s nuclear-related, ballistic-missile-related, or other WMD-related programmes. In addition, people and entities:

1. responsible for North Korea’s nuclear, ballistic missile, and WMD-related programmes;
2. providing financial services that could contribute to North Korea’s nuclear, ballistic missile, or WMD-related programmes;
3. those involved in the supply to or from North Korea of arms and related materials, or the supply to North Korea of goods and technology that could contribute to its nuclear, ballistic missile, or WMD-related programmes;
4. people and entities working on behalf or at the direction of listed persons and entities; and
5. entities of the North Korean Government or the Workers’ Party of Korea (including persons/entities acting on their behalf or at their direction, as well as entities owned or controlled by them) that are associated with North Korea’s nuclear or ballistic-missile programmes or other prohibited activities.