S. Korea seeks more N. Korean sanctions – report

SEOUL – South Korea is seeking to extend United Nations sanctions to 19 more North Korean institutions following the country’s widely condemned rocket launch this month, a report said Thursday.

Seoul has submitted the list of institutions including Aprok Development Bank and Haesung Trading, suspected of involvement in arms trading and other illegal activities, Dong-A Ilbo newspaper said.

It cited an unidentified senior UN official.

Five or six countries including South Korea, Japan, the United States and the European Union have submitted their own lists, said the source quoted by Dong-A.

Washington is seeking to freeze bank accounts and other assets of 17 additional North Korean institutions beyond those already under UN sanctions, it said.

South Korea’s foreign ministry spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

North Korea on April 13 launched what it called a satellite-carrying rocket to mark the centenary of the birth of founding leader Kim Il-Sung.

The United States and its allies, however, said it was a disguised long-range ballistic missile test banned under UN resolutions.

The launch sparked condemnation from the UN Security Council. It ordered new “entities and items” to be added to the sanctions committee list created after North Korea’s nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.