North Korea, officially called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has faced backlash from countries around the world because of their nuclear and missile development, as well as their exports of ballistic missile technology.^[1]  Because of this, several countries around the world and the United Nations are issuing sanctions against North Korea in order to try and stop their nuclear technology production.    

Specifically, a sanction is a limitation on a country or coalition in an attempt to change the behavior or practices of a country.  In the United States, sanctions are executed by the Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), or the State Department.^[2]  

In response to North Korea and their technology challenges they pose to the rest of the world, the United States has taken several measures to stop them, including both policy and diplomatic initiatives.  

The United States is particularly concerned with North Korea’s weapon development.  For this reason, from 1950 to 2008 restrictions on trade between the United States and North Korea were put in place and enforced by the Trading with the Enemy Act.^[3]  In 1994, the United States and North Korea signed the Agreed Framework agreement, which required North Korea to halt their nuclear production exchange for aid.  This agreement followed North Korea’s withdrawal from the Nonproliferation Treaty. This treaty entailed non-nuclear countries to stop production and development of nuclear weapons.  The agreement collapsed in 2002 and North Korea started operation of their nuclear facilities again.^[4]  In 2005, in exchange for energy assistance, North Korea suspends its nuclear production. However, in 2006, it begins to start testing long range missiles. Again, in exchange for aid in 2007, North Korea closes its main nuclear reactor. North Korea began to test nuclear weapons again until 2012, when they shut down nuclear activity at their main nuclear facility in exchange for food aid. North Korea continued to test nuclear weapons, and in 2016 they conducted hydrogen bomb tests as well.^[5]

Primarily, the United States places sanctions on North Korea to restrict any economic interaction with North Korea, which was in response to their missile and nuclear technology.  Additionally, the United States also sanctioned North Korea in response to their cyberattacks against the United States in 2014. The United States has also sanctioned countries that have any interactions with North Korea that support their missile development.  In 2016, Congress passed the very first statue to require sanctions on North Korea. According to the Council on Foreign Relations: “The law requires the president to sanction anyone who engages in certain activities, such as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”^[6]  This is the first bill that specifically targeted North Korea, and it passed quickly through Congress.^[7]  

In 2016, the United States and China agreed to strengthen their sanctions against North Korea in response to North Korea’s continuous testing of hydrogen bombs. The United States agreed to ban trade with North Korea and to prohibit companies and individuals accused of trafficking nuclear items. As a result, all North Korean cargo must be inspected by the country the cargo is entering.  However, these sanctions imposed that North Korea is still allowed to buy oil and sell coal and iron as long as it is not being used for their nuclear weapons.^[8]  

However, in present day, China is clashing with the Trump administration and is slowly easing up on their sanctions against North Korea.  During a United Nations meeting, the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was met with pushback from China, as the Chinese foreign minister asked that the United States weaken sanctions against North Korea in order to end hostilities between the two countries.^[9]  

North Korea continued to test and develop nuclear technology despite worldwide efforts to prevent them from doing so.  In February 2017, North Korea tested a new ballistic missile and called it a “success.” All parts of the missile were manufactured domestically in North Korea.^[10]  In response to this, President Trump called the North Korean regime “depraved” and said it is an “...outrage that some nations would not only trade with such a regime, but would arm, supply, and financially support a country that imperils the world with nuclear conflict.”^[11]  These actions from North Korea prompted the Trump Administration to take more action against North Korea.  

On August 29th, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile over Japan, and a week later North Korea announced they had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.  On September 15th, they launched another intercontinental ballistic missile over Japan.^[12]  According to a report produced by the United States National Security and Defense, North Korea violated several UN Security Council Resolutions by testing intercontinental ballistic missile launches and conducting nuclear tests.  The National Security and Defense reported that the tests were human rights abuses and these nuclear and missile programs pose a threat to national security, foreign policy, and the United States economy.^[13]

In response to this, President Trump issued an Executive Order, informally named “Imposing Additional Sanctions with Respect to North Korea” in September with four categories of sanctions that allow the United States Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control the authority to impose sanction against individuals and entities that conduct their business with North Korea.^[14]  These people will be added to OFAC’s Specifically Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.^[15]

Secondly, any company that has conducted business with North Korea would have either their access to the United States financial system revoked or their financial assets frozen.  This means that foreign financial institutions have the choice to do business with either the United States or North Korea, but not both at the same time. However, the Executive Order did not affect United States banks because the law already prohibited these institutions from doing business with North Korea.^[16]

This section of the Executive Order allows the United States Treasury to impose their own sanctions on financial institutions that they believe are conducting business with North Korea.  It also allows the Treasury to ban institutions from using the United States financial systems if they are trading goods, services, or technology with North Korea.^[17]  

Third, after the issuance of the Executive Order, ships and aircrafts were banned from going to North Korea for 180 days.  Any aircraft that landed in North Korea is not allowed to enter back into the United States.^[18]

Lastly, all funds from a foreign bank account that OFAC determines to be a owned or controlled by a North Korean person are blocked.  

According to President Trump:  “Our new executive order will cut off sources of revenue that fund North Korea’s efforts to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind.  The order enhances the treasury department’s authorities to target any individual or entity that conducts significant trade in goods, services, or technology with North Korea.”^[19]  The ultimate goal of the  Executive Order is to completely cut off all trade and financial ties with North Korea and to isolate their country in order to stop nuclear production.  If North Korea does not have the funds to produce missiles, they will be forced to stop production.

As of November 3rd, North Korea has threatened to resume their nuclear production if the United States does not lift sanctions.  The Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, plans to meet with his North Korean “counterpart” to discuss further. North Korea claims that the United States is making a big mistake if we continue to keep sanctions in place, and that negotiations should be based on “reciprocity and equality.”  Additionally, North Korea believes that a friendship cannot be maintained if sanctions are in place. In North Korea’s official statement, they stated:

“If the U.S. keeps behaving arrogantly without showing any change in its stand, while failing to properly understand our repeated demand, the DPRK may add one thing to the state policy for directing all efforts to the economic construction adopted in April and as a result, the word ‘pyongjin’ may appear again…”^[20]

Pyongjin is North Korea’s term for nuclear development.  

Currently, the United States Department of State, the United States Department of Treasury, and the United States Department of Homeland Security release advisories to show the sanctions that North Korea is trying to get around as a way to inform businesses in the United States and protect business owners, manufacturers, buyers, and service providers.  The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Department of State and the United States Coast Guard issue advisories to warn people of North Korea using deceptive shipping practices to get around sanctions.^[21]

• Milagro River
• Milagro Sala
• Milagros Cabral
• Milagros Ceran
• Milagros Crespo
• Milagros de amor
• Milagros D. Ibe
• Milagros Flores
• Milagros "Miles" Ocampo
• Milagros Moy
• Milagros Schmoll
• Milagro (The X-Files)
• Milagro Vargas
• Mila Horvat
• Milaisis Duanys
• Mila Iskrenova
• Mila Islam
• Milai Vanuatu
• Milai Vanuatu Limited
• Mila Jam
• Mila Jovović
• Mila Kajas
• Mila Kajas-Virtanen
• Milakh
• Milaki