EU tightens sanctions on North Korea

The EU Council has implemented further restrictive measures against North Korea (‘DPRK’), aimed at starving the regime of the funds it needs to develop its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles programmes.

Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1858 extends the ban on EU investment concerning DPRK to all sectors, blocks oil exports to DPRK, and lowers the sum of personal remittances allowed to be re-patriated back to DPRK from €15,000 to €5,000.

The latest EU measures build upon those imposed on 10 September, when the EU implemented UN Security Council Resolution 2375. These sectoral sanctions placed a ban on the export of textiles, limited oil imports, blocked joint commercial ventures with North Korean entities, and implemented a freeze on future work permits for North Koreans.

The US mission estimates that about 93,000 North Koreans are currently working abroad, in conditions which equate to forced labour, with around two-thirds of their earnings sent back home to fund the regime. The value of these funds to the regime varies according to reports, with estimates from $930m to more than $2bn annually.

The EU Council also adopted Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1859, adding three people and six entities to the list of those subject to an asset freeze and travel restriction.

Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1858 can be found here: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32017R1858

Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1859 can be found here: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32017R1859