2010-08-31 11:25

WASHINGTON - The US Treasury Department said on Monday that it has imposed new sanctions on individuals and entities connected to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The department said three individuals and five entities have been designated under Executive Order 13382 for supporting the DPRK's nuclear program.

Executive Order 13382 is aimed at freezing the assets of "Weapons of Mass Destruction proliferators and their supporters thereby isolating them from the US financial and commercial systems," the department said in a statement.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama also signed an Executive Order on Monday that directs the Treasury Department to impose sanctions on "individuals and entities facilitating North Korean trafficking in arms and related material; procurement of luxury goods; and engagement in illicit activities."

All the sanctions announced on Monday together designated four individuals and eight entities, including the DPRK's Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), its commander, and Office 39 of the Korean Workers' Party.

"We have engaged (North Korea). We continue to be prepared to engage (North Korea) to live up to its obligations," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said after the new sanctions were announced.

"We have a strategy that includes engagement, directly when it's appropriate, also through the six-party process. Likewise, we have a strategy that involves putting pressure on North Korea," he said.

Crowley said it is up to the DPRK to take specific actions to demonstrate its commitment to denuclearization.

In July, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the United States will introduce new "country-specific" sanctions against the DPRK's procurement of nuclear materials.