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U.S. Slaps Sanctions On North Korea For Selling Missile Parts to Yemen
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| The North Korean leader, left, listens to the Russian President who promised to try to smooth ties between North and South Korea |
WASHINGTON,
August 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Although the U.S. has
no trade with North Korea, the White House has imposed sanctions on
North Korea for selling Scud missile components to Yemen, the New York
Times said Friday, August 23, quoting U.S. officials.
While
the sanctions are merely symbolic, a U.S. official said they are
important, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
“We
are making a statement to the world that North Korea engages in
dangerous and illicit activity,” the unidentified official said.
“We
are making it clear that if you are a friend of the United States or
civil society these are characters you do not want to be associated
with.”
The
Washington Post daily, which also carries the story without indicating
to whom the missile parts were sold, said the U.S. government will
announce its sanction decision on Friday.
The
Post also said the trade sanctions will last two years and are the
first to be imposed on North Korea for weapons or materials sales
since April 2000.
The
sanctions target the Changgwang Sinyong Corporation in North Korea,
the marketing arm for Pyongyang's missile export program, and the
North Korean government, for its work on missile technology
electronics, space systems or equipment and military aircraft.
The
Times said the sale of Scud missile components to Yemen occurred
during the administration of former U.S. president Bill Clinton.
The
United States has also raised concerns with Yemen, which has indicated
that it does not plan to buy any more missile technology from North
Korea, the U.S. officials told the Times.
The
sanctions decision comes at a time of thawing relations between
Washington and Pyongyang. Secretary of State Colin Powell met his
North Korean counterpart Paek Nam Sun last month on the sidelines of
an Asian regional meeting, AFP said.
And
they come on the eve of a visit to the region by Under Secretary for
Arms Control and International Security John Bolton to discuss defense
and security issues. He will be in Seoul from August 28 to 30.
Meanwhile,
in Japan, the foreign ministry said Friday South Korea and the United
States will hold talks next month on dealings with North Korea.
The
talks, due to open in Seoul on September 7, will help the United
States and its two Asian allies to fine tune their North Korea policy
following overtures from the Stalinist country, the ministry said.
It
said senior diplomats from the three allies would also hold bilateral
talks on September 6 before starting the three-way talks.
The
Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) meeting is a key
consultation channel linking Seoul, Tokyo and Washington.
At
the upcoming TCOG meeting, Seoul will explain the outcome of the
inter-Korean ministerial talks held last week to put rapprochement
back on track and a follow-up economic cooperation meeting to resume
in Seoul next week, the ministry said.
Tokyo
would brief its allies on its Red Cross talks held last week and the
ministerial talks to open next week with the North, it said.
U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James
Kelly, Director General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Hitoshi Tanaka
of Japan and Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Tae-Sik of South Korea are to
take part in the meeting.
Meanwhile,
North Korea’s Stalinist leader Kim Jong-Il arrived Friday in
Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok where he was due to hold
talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The
talks, focusing on the development of the Asian country's
infrastructure including a planned rail link that would join the two
Koreas to Western Europe via Russia's Trans-Siberian railway, would be
held later in the day, local administration officials said.
The
purpose of Kim’s visit to Russia’s Far Eastern region is
ostensibly to examine various options for “economic development,”
to boost North Korea’s failing economy, AFP said.
The
secrecy prompted analysts and diplomats to suspect that Kim had
launched his “unofficial” tour without a direct invitation from
Putin, who finds himself in a tight spot in meeting the Stalinist
chief just as his own relations with Washington blossom.
North
Korea has been branded a member of an “axis of evil” by U.S.
President George W. Bush, and while Putin has made efforts to bring
Pyongyang out its political isolation, his previous meetings with Kim
have brought mixed results.
Kim’s
second plunge into Russia in two years comes amid signs of major
changes being made to the paralyzed North Korean economy.
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