On July 31, 2026, authorities from the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom issued a joint alert warning countries, companies, and other entities about the threat posed by information technology (“IT”) workers of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK” or “North Korea”). According to the alert, North Korea relies on a network of skilled IT workers, deployed both within and…
On November 06, 2019, the Swiss Government adopted selective adjustments to the Swiss sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, thereby implementing the exceptions to the export ban agreed by the UN SC Sanctions Committee. The amendment will come into force on 1 December 2019.
The US Departments of State, Treasury, and Homeland Security warned companies in a new advisory that deceptive practices by North Korea to evade US, UN, and other sanctions could put them at risk of prohibited or sanctionable dealings with the North Korean regime. The advisory published on July 24, 2018 follows February 2018 guidance from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control regarding certain deceptive shipping practices of North Korea to avoid US sanctions (see our prior blog post here). The new advisory encourages companies to undertake enhanced due diligence within their supply chains to avoid prohibited or sanctionable: (i) sourcing of goods, services, or technology from North Korea and (ii) use of the labor of North Korean citizens or nationals, which is presumed to be forced labor, regardless of where such labor occurs.
As part of its continuing efforts to isolate North Korea from the world economy, on February 23, 2018, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced new sanctions measures targeting North Korea’s shipping industry and issued an advisory document entitled “North Korea Sanctions Advisory,” which highlights sanctions risks in the global shipping industry.