US sanctions arms dealers, financial supporters of North Korean weapons program

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Thursday sanctioned a network of arms dealers and financial supporters for their role in generating revenue for North Korean weapons programs, the Treasury Departments said.

“North Korea’s unlawful weapons programs are a direct threat to America and our allies. At Treasury, we will continue to dismantle the financial networks that sustain them,” Deputy Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John Hurley said in a statement.

The sanctions target five individuals and one entity, including representatives of North Korean government agencies “who are key to the regime’s ability to finance its unlawful WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and ballistic missile programs,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. Those include the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID) and the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), the department said.

“KOMID and the RGB maintain offices and representatives in numerous countries around the world, setting up front companies to disguise foreign currency earnings, which are then illicitly funneled back to Pyongyang,” the statement said.

The designation also included a network that facilitates arms deals between KOMID and the Myanmar’s military-run government, the department said.

(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones, Katharine Jackson; Editing by Doina Chiacu)