US imposes fresh ban on arms trade network linking North Korea, Myanmar

The United States has announced sweeping sanctions targeting a weapons trade network between North Korea and Myanmar.

In a statement issued Thursday (September 25), the U.S. State Department cited growing military cooperation between the two nations following Myanmar's 2021 military coup, reports Reuters.

The sanctions target Myanmar’s state-owned Royal Shune Lei Company Limited, its director Aung Ko Ko Oo, and senior officials Kyaw Thu Myo Mint and Thin Myo Aung. On the North Korean side, sanctions were placed on Kim Yong Ju, deputy director of the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID), and Nam Chol Ung, another KOMID official.

According to U.S. authorities, KOMID facilitated arms transactions and financial transfers directly to North Korea's government and intelligence agencies.

“The arms production and trade network operated by North Korea is illegal and poses a direct threat to the United States and its allies,” said John Hurley, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control.

Previously, the U.S. had sanctioned North Korea’s foreign intelligence agency, further tightening restrictions on Pyongyang’s military-industrial complex.

Neither the North Korean mission to the United Nations nor the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar has commented on the latest sanctions.