On 6 April 2017, in response to the continued violation of UN resolutions and the threat to international peace and security, the European Council adopted additional sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (“DPRK” or “North Korea“). Our previous blog posts on the sanctions against DPRK are available here and here.
Under these new measures, the existing ban on investment in North Korea has been expanded to cover three new sectors, namely, (i) the conventional arms-related industry, (ii) metallurgy and metalworking, and (iii) aerospace.
The new measures now also prohibit the provision of (i) computer and related services, and (ii) services incidental to mining and manufacturing in the chemical, mining and refining industry, to persons or entities in North Korea. The list of prohibited services is set out in part A and B, respectively, to Annex VIII to Regulation (EC) No 329/2007 (as amended).
In addition, the European Council has added four persons (Ri Myong Su, So Hong Chan, Wang Chang Uk and Jang Chol) to the list of designated persons responsible for supporting or promoting North Korea’s nuclear-related, ballistic missile or other weapons of mass destruction-related programmes. There are currently 41 persons subject to travel bans and asset freezes and 7 entities subject to an asset freeze.
For the relevant legislation, please see Regulation 2017/658 amending Regulation 329/2007, and Decision 2017/666 and Decision 2017/667 amending Decision 2016/849. These legal acts were published in the Official Journal of 7 April 2017.
