The UN Security Council on Friday put North Korea’s suspected spy chief, 13 other Pyongyang officials and four entities on a sanctions blacklist, hitting them with a global travel ban and an assets freeze.

The council unanimously adopted a US-drafted resolution imposing the new targeted sanctions in response to a series of ballistic missile tests this year.

The resolution however did not contain some of the biting sanctions that the US administration had floated last month, such as an oil embargo, a ban on maritime shipping, trade restrictions and curbs on North Korean workers abroad.

Among those added to the blacklist was Cho Il-U, believed to be the head of foreign espionage for Kim Jong-Un’s regime.

The other 13 included senior officials from North Korea’s Workers’ Party and heads of trading firms tasked with securing purchases for Pyongyang’s military programs.

The strategic rocket force of the North Korean army, two trading firms and the Koryo Bank, linked to a party office that manages Kim’s finances, were also hit by an assets freeze.

The 18 names will be added to the current blacklist of 39 individuals and 42 North Korean entities already under UN sanctions.

Source: AFP