UN Security Council agrees to blacklist more DPRK individuals

The UN Security Council on Friday agreed to put more individuals and entities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) under its sanction list in response to the country's repeated ballistic launches.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-nation council decided to impose travel bans and asset freezes on 14 individuals and put sanctions on two companies, one bank as well as the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army, Xinhua reported.

The Security Council also condemned "in the strongest terms" the nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development activities conducted by the DPRK since September 2016, while urging the DPRK to abandon its nuclear programs and cease all related activities immediately.

Over the past weeks, the DPRK has test-fired several ballistic missiles including a medium-range rocket launched on Monday which fell into the Sea of Japan.

According to previous Security Council resolutions, the DPRK is banned from conducting any launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests or any other provocation.

To curb the DPRK's activities, the council has ratcheted up its sanction measures on the country since 2006, which includes banning the sale and transfer of coal, iron and iron ore from the country's territory.

--IANS

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