Addis Ababa works to limit Pyongyang banks

Ethiopia is currently working to limit the number of bank accounts held by the North Korean Embassy and its diplomats in the African country, its diplomatic mission to the United Nations has said.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is currently working in coordination with the National Bank of Ethiopia to take measures to limit the number of bank accounts of the embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and its diplomats and consular officers to one account,” Ethiopia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations said in an implementation report posted on the web page of the U.N. sanctions committee on North Korea.

It was submitted on July 13 to outline Ethiopia’s implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2321 adopted in 2016 to condemn North Korea’s nuclear test in September that year. According to the report, Ethiopia has also imposed a restriction on entry into or transit through Ethiopia by North Korean officials and armed forces who are associated with the nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Ethiopia had once been in a friendly relationship with North Korea and had bilateral exchanges in the defense manufacturing sector before reportedly severing its military ties with North Korea recently.

Yonhap