From: Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Mathew Ha
Yesterday, the U.S. sanctioned three non-North Korean entities and one individual “for facilitating illicit shipments on behalf of North Korea.” These latest sanctions come shortly after another Treasury action earlier this month that targeted Russian facilitators, showing Washington’s willingness to enforce UN and U.S. sanctions amidst ongoing nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang.
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These latest North Korea sanctions target Chinese company Dalian Sun Moon Star International Logistics Trading Co., Ltd. and its Singaporean affiliate, SINSMS Pte Ltd. (SINSMS), for facilitating illegal shipments of alcohol, tobacco, and cigarette-related products on North Korea’s behalf using falsified documents. The Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea reported in 2014 that North Korea has a growing reliance on domestic production and trade of counterfeit cigarettes as an illicit revenue source. Treasury estimates Pyongyang’s illicit cigarette trade now yields up to $1 billion in annual revenue for regime coffers. The Kim regime in turn depends heavily on its shipping sector and the sector’s underlying facilitators to transit contraband goods.
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