The U.S. Treasury DepartmentTreasury Department on Friday announced sanctions on three Russian companies and two related individuals for allegedly supporting North Korea's weapons development program after Pyongyang was found to have recently tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile ICBM system.
Brian Nelson, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a press release that the DPRK continues to launch ballistic missiles in blatant violation of international law.
The official name of DPRK is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The sanctions are aimed at Russian company Apollon OOO and its director for alleged involvement in aiding a North Korean defense industry-related procurement agent in Russia.
The sanctions block the assets held by the designated individuals and companies in the United States and prohibit their transactions with U.S. citizens.
The US government indicated Thursday that it would come up with new sanctions after it revealed that North Korea had tested a new ICBM system with its two most recent missile launches on February 27 and March 5.
It strongly condemned the launches, saying they needlessly raise tensions and risk destabilizing the security situation in the region. So far this year, North Korea has conducted nine series of missile tests. In January, the country also hinted that it could resume nuclear and ICBM tests for the first time since 2017.