US to Propose Adding New North Koreans to UN Sanctions List

A news broadcast playing at a railway station in Seoul on Tuesday shows footage of a North Korean missile test. | AFP-JIJI
A news broadcast playing at a railway station in Seoul on Tuesday shows footage of a North Korean missile test. | AFP-JIJI
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US to Propose Adding New North Koreans to UN Sanctions List

A news broadcast playing at a railway station in Seoul on Tuesday shows footage of a North Korean missile test. | AFP-JIJI
A news broadcast playing at a railway station in Seoul on Tuesday shows footage of a North Korean missile test. | AFP-JIJI

The United States will propose UN sanctions on multiple North Koreans, a day after Pyongyang carried out what it said was the launch of a hypersonic missile, the US United Nations ambassador announced Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the US Treasury and State Departments imposed sanctions on five North Koreans linked to the country's ballistic missile program, AFP said.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Wednesday evening that on top of these actions, "the US is proposing UN sanctions following North Korea's six ballistic missile launches since September 2021, each of which were in violation of UN Security Council resolutions."

Her statement, posted on Twitter, did not specify the type of sanctions.

But according to an American diplomatic source, the United States will propose adding the Treasury and State Department designees to the UN's own list of sanctioned North Korean individuals and entities.

The proposal must formally go through the UN Security Council's committee on North Korean sanctions, which is comprised of the 15 members of the Security Council and whose decisions must be made unanimously.

The Treasury Department said the five North Koreans sanctioned Wednesday were "responsible for procuring goods for the DPRK's (North Korea's) weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile-related programs."

The Treasury said that one of the North Koreans being sanctioned, Choe Myong Hyon, was based in Russia and had provided support to North Korea's Second Academy of Natural Sciences (SANS), which is already subject to sanctions.

Also targeted were four China-based North Korean representatives of SANS-subordinate organizations, the Treasury Department said: Sim Kwang Sok, Kim Song Hun, Kang Chol Hak and Pyon Kwang Chol.

In a related action, Treasury said the Department of State had designated another North Korean, O Yong Ho, a Russian national, Roman Anatolyevich Alar, and a Russian company, Parsek LLC, for having "materially contributed to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery by (North Korea)."

North Korean state media reported on Wednesday that the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, personally oversaw its successful test of a hypersonic missile the day before, the second such launch by the nuclear-armed nation in less than a week, which diplomats have called a provocation.

The last time the UN Security Council showed unanimity was in 2017, when the United States, under former president Donald Trump, pushed through three series of economic sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear and missile tests.

The measures, which are still in effect, limit Pyongyang's ability to import oil, as well as banning it from exporting coal, iron, seafood and textiles.



Zelenskiy Approves Bill 'Preserving Independence' of Anti-corruption Bodies

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference on the first day of the two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2025), on plans for the reconstruction of Ukraine, in Rome, Italy, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference on the first day of the two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2025), on plans for the reconstruction of Ukraine, in Rome, Italy, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo
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Zelenskiy Approves Bill 'Preserving Independence' of Anti-corruption Bodies

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference on the first day of the two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2025), on plans for the reconstruction of Ukraine, in Rome, Italy, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference on the first day of the two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2025), on plans for the reconstruction of Ukraine, in Rome, Italy, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy approved draft legislation on Thursday that he said would restore the independence of the country's anti-corruption agencies, reversing course after an outburst of public criticism.

Measures enacted earlier this week that established greater control by the prosecutor general, a political appointee, over the two bodies had fuelled rare wartime protests and had thrown Kyiv's EU bid into question.

Zelenskiy said on X he had approved the draft for submission to parliament later in the day, Reuters reported.

"It is important that we are maintaining unity. It is important that we are preserving independence. It is important that we respect the position of all Ukrainians," he said.

Zelenskiy, whose image as a tireless leader of the three-year-old war against Russia's invasion has been tarnished by the controversy, said the text of the new bill is "well-balanced".

He did not give further details, saying only that it "guarantees real strengthening of Ukraine's law enforcement system, independence of anti-corruption agencies, and reliable protection...against any Russian influence".

On Monday, security forces arrested two anti-corruption officials on suspicion of ties to Russia and launched sweeping searches of other employees.

Critics had decried the measures putting a Zelenskiy-appointed prosecutor in control over the anti-corruption agencies, saying they went too far and looked like political pressure against the agencies.

Opposition lawmakers had collected enough signatures to register their own legislation to revoke the restrictive measures, which had been fast-tracked with help from Zelenskiy's ruling party.

It was not immediately clear how soon parliament, which was meant to start its summer holiday this week, would consider either bill.

The European officials expressed strong criticism over changes curbing the authority of the anti-corruption bodies and on Thursday welcomed an earlier pledge by Zelenskiy to retain their independence.