U.S. sanctions North for Yemen missile sale

The U.S. government imposed sanctions against North Korea for past exports of missile components to Yemen, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Calling the decision to impose the sanctions "largely symbolic," the newspaper said the timing of the punitive action was sensitive, contrasting with the recent improvement of bilateral relations between Washington and Pyeongyang.

The sale by the Changgwang Sin-yong Corporation took place before the Bush administration took office. The retrospective sanctions will ban licenses and contracts for high-tech items, and will apply to the North Korean government and the exporter, the article said.

It is the first time that the White House has imposed sanctions against Pyeongyang for missile deals; in the past, the penalties had been imposed on the corporate exporters.

The United States and North Korea have almost no trade with each other; thus the sanctions will have little effect. Washington nevertheless called the decision important. "We are making a statement to the world that North Korea engages in dangerous and illicit activity," the newspaper quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying.

The U.S. move is expected to throw a cold blanket over Washington-Pyeongyang relations. "Obviously, it won't do any good," said Lee Jong-seok, a North Korea expert at the Seoul-based Sejong Institute, calling the decision "poorly timed." The decision also signals divisions in the U.S. government over North Korea policy, Mr. Lee added. The policy of engaging the reclusive communist state has long been disputed between Washington's hawks and the doves.

"Hard-liners seem to be running the show," Leon Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council, was quoted by the New York Times as saying.

by Ser Myo-ja