U.S. President Barack Obama Imposes New Sanctions On North Korea In Response To Sony Hack

 

U.S. President Barack Obama answers a reporter’s question about North Korea on November 8, 2014. Yuri Gripas / Reuters

The White House says it’s a “response to the Government of North Korea’s ongoing provocative, destabilizing, and repressive actions and policies, particularly its destructive and coercive cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.”

What We Know So Far

• President Obama authorized sanctions against three North Korea entities and 10 government officials in response to the Sony hack.
• North Korea’s cyber attacks have “become more dangerous,” a senior administration official said.
• North Korea’s main spy agency is one of the groups targeted in the sanctions.
• The official wouldn’t say if the U.S. was behind the recent internet outage in North Korea, adding that it couldn’t be ruled out that North Korea imposed it upon itself.
• The 10 individuals who were sanctioned didn’t have direct involvement in the hack.
• The Sony hack made a trove of confidential and embarrassing company information public.
• The alleged hackers then threatened violence on any theater showing The Interview, which depicted a fictional assassination of North Korea’s leader. Theaters and Sony pulled the film, but it was later released online and in some theaters.

A senior U.S. administration official said that the sanctions imposed on Friday were “the first step in our proportional response to North Korea’s cyber attacks.”

On a call with reporters on Friday, a senior administration official would not comment specifically on the United States’ role in the North Korean internet outages, but said that there were many possible explanations for why North Korea’s internet went out shortly after the hack of Sony, including the possibility that “they did it to themselves.”

“This is the first step in our proportional response to North Korea’s cyber attacks,” the official said.
Multiple senior U.S. administration officials stressed their confidence that North Korea is responsible for recent cyberattacks on Sony, as well as the threats of violence to movie theaters playing The Interview.
The officials also clarified that the individuals and entities named in the sanctions are not directly responsible for the hacking, but instead play a role in supporting the government of North Korea and participating in ongoing human rights violations, including nuclear proliferation.

Senior administration official: the new sanctions provide “very broad authority” for the U.S.

The sanctions target “any person who has been an official of North Korea, any entity part of the government of North Korea any official in the [Workers Party of North Korea] as well as any person in or outside…who is owned or controlled by the North Korean government or provide support” to the North Koreans.

“It’s a very broad authority that will allow us at the time and place…to place sanctions on any of those Korean officials or any of those Korean entities…going forward.”
The sanctions “expands the aperture of our authority” to “apply increased financial pressure” on the nation.
The U.S. “will further isolate those entities form the international financial system.”
Also, the officials would not confirm if the U.S. was behind the recent internet outage in North Korea, and an official suggested the nation may have done it against themselves.

Here’s the White House Press Secretary statement:

Today, the President issued an Executive Order (E.O.) authorizing additional sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This E.O. is a response to the Government of North Korea’s ongoing provocative, destabilizing, and repressive actions and policies, particularly its destructive and coercive cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The E.O. authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to impose sanctions on individuals and entities associated with the Government of North Korea. We take seriously North Korea’s attack that aimed to create destructive financial effects on a U.S. company and to threaten artists and other individuals with the goal of restricting their right to free expression.As the President has said, our response to North Korea’s attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment will be proportional, and will take place at a time and in a manner of our choosing. Today’s actions are the first aspect of our response.

Here are three entities and 10 people who fall under the sanctions, according to the Department of Treasury:

The following three entities are designated under the E.O. signed by the President today for being controlled entities of the Government of North Korea:

        Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB): RGB is North Korea’s primary intelligence organization and is involved, inter alia, in a range of activities to include conventional arms trade proscribed by numerous United Nations Security Council Resolutions. RGB was previously listed in the annex to E.O. 13551 on August 30, 2010. RGB is responsible for collecting strategic, operational, and tactical intelligence for the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces. Many of North Korea’s major cyber operations run through RGB.

        Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID): KOMID is North Korea’s primary arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. KOMID, a North Korean state-owned entity, was previously listed in the annex to E.O. 13382 on July 1, 2005 for its role in North Korea’s proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It was also sanctioned by the United Nations in April 2009. KOMID has offices in multiple countries around the world and facilitates weapons sales for the North Korean government.

        Korea Tangun Trading Corporation is subordinate to the Second Academy of Natural Sciences and is primarily responsible for the procurement of commodities and technologies to support North Korea’s defense research and development programs, including materials that are controlled under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) or the Australia Group. Tangun Trading Corporation was designated by the Department of State pursuant to E.O. 13382 in September 2009 and was designated by the United Nations in 2009. The identifier information for this designated entity is also being updated to include several aliases it uses to operate internationally. The new aliases for Korea Tangun Trading Corporation include Ryung Seng Trading Corporation, Ryungseng Trading Corporation, and Ryungsong Trading Corporation.

    The following 10 individuals are designated under the E.O. signed by the President today for their status as officials of the North Korean government:

    * Kil Jong Hun and Kim Kwang Yon are officials of the North Korean government and represent thesouthern African interests of KOMID. Kil Jong Hun is KOMID’s Representative in Namibia and anofficial of the North Korean government.

        Jang Song Chol is a KOMID representative in Russia and an official of the North Korean government. He is working with individuals in Sudan who are procuring materials from him.

    * Yu Kwang Ho is an official of the North Korean government.

    * Kim Yong Chol is a KOMID Representative in Iran and an official of the North Korean Government.

    * Jang Yong Son is a KOMID Representative in Iran and an official of the North Korean government.

    * Kim Kyu is the KOMID External Affairs Officer and an official of the North Korean government.

        Ryu Jin and Kang Ryong are KOMID officials operating in Syria and are officials of the North Korean government.

    * Kim Kwang Chun is a Korea Tangun Trading Corporation representative in Shenyang, China and anofficial of the North Korean government.