Seoul announced sanctions on Monday against 11 individuals and 15 institutions, including North Korean generals involved in North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia.
This move follows a joint statement issued earlier in the day by the foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States, Japan, the European Union and seven other nations that condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the growing military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow and pledged concerted efforts, including economic sanctions.
The South Korean sanctions target key North Korean military figures and units aiding Russia.
Among the sanctioned individuals include Kim Yong-bok, deputy chief of staff of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) General Staff; Sin Kum-chol, director of the Operations Bureau of the KPA General Staff; and Ri Song-jin, a missile technician affiliated with the North Korean military. The 11th Corps of the Korean People’s Army — widely known as the Storm Corps — and its commander Ri Pong-chun, deployed to Russia to support combat operations in Ukraine, were also put under sanction.
Additionally, sanctions were imposed on Russian individuals and organizations involved in illegal military cooperation with North Korea, violating multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions banning such activities.
This includes Rafael Anatolyevich Gazaryan and his companies, Rafort LLC and Trans Kapital LLC, for providing material, financial, and technical support for North Korea-Russia arms deals. Aleksey Budnev and his company, Tekhnologiya, transported North Korean-made military communication equipment for Russian forces. Pavel Pavlovich Shevelin, a Wagner Group member, was sanctioned for facilitating North Korea-Russia arms transfers. The entity LLC Verus was listed for involvement in arms transactions.
The sanctions extend to missile-related support.
Roman Anatolyevich Alar and his company, Parsek LLC, supplied critical missile materials and technology to North Korea. Igor Aleksandrovich Michurin and his entity, Ardis-Bearings LLC, supported the UN-sanctioned Korean Tangun Trading Corporation, which contributes to North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.
Entities supporting North Korea’s defense industry were included as well.
Aleksandr Andreyevich Gayevoy and his firm, Apollon LLC, and Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Chasovnikov, who runs the companies Zeel-M and RK-Briz LLC, assisted material procurement activities for Korea Ryonbong General Corporation, linked to North Korea’s defense sector.
Several Russian banks facilitating illegal financial transactions between Russia and North Korea were also sanctioned, including MRB Bank, TSMR Bank, Russian Financial Corporation (RFC Bank), Stroytreyd LLC, and Timer Bank.
The new sanctions will take effect Thursday.
Under these measures, South Korean entities are prohibited from engaging in financial transactions with sanctioned individuals and organizations unless authorized by the Bank of Korea or the Financial Services Commission. Violators face penalties under related laws.
The South Korean measures coincide with the United States and the European Union announcing their own sanctions against North Koreans involved in the Ukraine war.
The United States on Monday confirmed North Korean troop casualties in the Russia-Ukraine war for the first time.
BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]
