International Sanctions

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The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against three key North Korean officials including Workers' Party Vice Chairman Choe Ryong-hae on December 10 local time. The Treasury Department cited human rights violations.

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The three North Koreans who have been included in the U.S. Treasury Department's list of sanctioned individuals are Workers' Party Vice Chairman Choe Ryong-hae, State Security Minister Jong Kyong-thaek, and the Director of North Korea's Propaganda and Agitation Department, Pak Kwang-ho. The U.S. Treasury Department said it decided to sanction the three for consistent and serious human rights abuses in North Korea. The department introduced Choe Ryong-hae as the number-two official who heads the Workers' Party's Organization and Guidance Department, which oversees the North's ruling party, government and military. It also said that the Organization and Guidance Department is a powerful body that implements censorship policies. Jong Kyong-thaek was detailed as a person who oversees the censorship activities and abuses conducted by the Ministry of State Security. Meanwhile, Pak Kwang-ho was described as being responsible for ideological purity and general censorship functions of the Workers' Party's Propaganda and Agitation Department, which is aimed at suppressing freedom of speech and expression. U.S. Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin said that the latest sanctions seek to demonstrate the United States’ ongoing support for freedom of expression, and opposition to endemic censorship and human rights abuses. The Treasury Department added that the measures serve as a reminder of North Korea’s brutal treatment of American citizen Otto Warmbier, who died 18 months ago after his detention in the North Korean regime.