(2nd LD) S. Korea slaps sanctions on eight individuals, seven agencies involved in N.K. ICBM test

(ATTN: UPDATES with Seoul foreign ministry's statement in last 3 paras)

SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea announced additional sanctions on North Korea on Friday in response to growing security threats from North Korea, highlighted by its long-range missile launch last month.

Seoul has decided to impose independent sanctions on eight individuals and seven institutions involved in the secretive regime's nuclear and missile development programs, according to the foreign ministry.

Those added to the blacklist include officials at financial institutions related to the North's nuclear and missile programs, and those involved in illegal ship-to-ship transfers of sanctioned North Korean goods, it said in a press release.

They include six North Korean individuals from the North's Foreign Trade Bank of Korea, Korea Daesong Bank and Kumgang Group Bank. The others are a Singaporean and a Taiwanese, Kwak Kee Seng and Chen Shih Huan, respectively.

The institutions are four North Korean trade and shipping companies, including Namgang Trading Corp., and three Singapore-based shipping firms.

The ministry cited its resolve to deal resolutely with the North's saber-rattling, including the Nov. 18 firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which poses a "serious threat" to the peace and stability of the peninsula and the international community.

It marked the South's second round of sanctions on the North since the launch of the conservative Yoon Suk-yeol administration in May.

Hours earlier, the U.S. Department of Treasury said it has designated three senior North Korean members of the ruling Workers' Party as individuals connected to the country's weapons development program.

Following the South Korean announcement, Japan announced it has placed three institutions and one individual involved in the North's nuclear and missile programs under its own sanctions.

The Seoul ministry said in a separate statement that the latest sanctions by the three countries underscore their "strong and united determination" to respond decisively to North Korea's nuclear and missile development.

It added Seoul will continue its efforts in cooperation with the international community to create "an environment in which North Korea has no other choice but to give up its nuclear development."

odissy@yna.co.kr
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