The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will sanction North Korea’s central prosecutors’ office, one of its animation studios and a high-level official, as well as seven DPRK-related foreign individuals and entities, an informed source told NK News on Friday.

The new sanctions, to be announced Friday (U.S. time), will mark the first such measures imposed under the Biden administration — and the first in a year’s time. The administration has maintained it will continue to enforce the existing sanctions regime against North Korea but had not announced any new ones until now.

The U.S. will introduce sanctions against two North Korean entities, the DPRK Central Public Prosecutors’ Office and the state-affiliated animation studio named SEK Studio (Scientific and Educational Film Studio of Korea), according to the source.

The U.S. designation of the prosecutor’s office and condemnation of North Korea’s domestic judicial system coincides with Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, apparently for its role in unfairly trying and punishing those accused of political crimes.

The U.S. will also sanction Ri Yong Gil, North Korea’s newly appointed defense minister, after the European Union sanctioned both Ri and the DPRK prosecutors’ office in March this year for human rights violations, according to the source. Ri served as the minister of public security in the past, a high-profile position in charge of policing citizens.

Judge Michael Kirby, former lead of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry DPRK, told NK News that he sees the new designations as a “good step” to mark Human Rights Day, as sanctions are unfortunately the “only language that North Korea understands” in its relations with the rest of the world.

“At least this shows that the Biden administration is not ignoring the issues of human rights,” Kirby said. “That is what the Trump administration did — and what was the reward for it? What was the advantage?”

He added: “It’s important that we don’t look away from the shocking revelations of the Commission of Inquiry on North Korea … but respond as we promised we would … to such terrible conduct on the part of North Korea.”

Hong Min, a North Korea expert at Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), said Pyongyang will interpret the U.S. sanctioning its judicial system as a “provocation” and “invasion of sovereignty,” predicting that the DPRK could aggressively follow up and slam the U.S. for its continuing “hostile policy.”

“For North Korea, this will become a proof they could cite as not trusting Americans’ authenticity yet again … as the core of their idea on U.S. hostile policy are the military issues and the economic pressure via sanctions,” he said.

OFAC, under the U.S. Treasury Department, last announced similar unilateral sanctions on North Korea on Dec. 8, 2020, designating six international firms and four vessels for illegal DPRK coal smuggling.

CARTOONS, VISAS, WIRE TRANSFERS

The rest of Friday’s designations will target Russian and Chinese persons and entities, many due to issues related to DPRK workers still abroad despite the Dec. 2019 U.N. Security Council resolution to repatriate them, according to the informed source.

OFAC believes the state-owned SEK Studio has animation workers not only in North Korea but also in China, catering to customers abroad, according to the source. The new sanctions also designate one individual named Lu Hezheng for involvement with the studio.

Lu is accused of facilitating financial transactions for the North Korean SEK Studio through Nings Cartoon Studio, while being the shareholder of two other firms in China — Shanghai Hongman Cartoon and Animation Design Studio — according to the source.

OFAC will sanction all three studios for receiving money from foreign customers at the time that Lu, affiliated with these entities, was facilitating wire transfers for SEK Studio. An entity named Moxing Cartoon will also be sanctioned in relation to the DPRK’s SEK Studio.

“The Biden administration, by designating even the animation studios — that get contract work for sanctions — is sending a very strong message to North Korea and the rest of the world that the U.S. government is going to really not leave any stone unturned and make sure that the North Koreans don’t get even a single cent of profit by trading with the outside world,” said Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at Asan Institute.

Two other entities that will be included in Friday’s OFAC designation are European Institute Justo and a provost of that entity named Dmitriy Yurevich Soin, according to the source. The U.S. is sanctioning both for allegedly sponsoring hundreds of student visas for North Korean construction workers in Russia. Some of these workers have reported links to the DPRK’s weapons program, OFAC understands.

“It’s clearly part of the ban on overseas labor which is under the United Nations Security Council sanctions,” said Go.

END-OF-WAR DECLARATION HOPES?

Experts said that the new U.S. unilateral sanctions will likely drive North Korea even further away from signing on to a formal end to the Korean War, an initiative that Seoul’s Moon Jae-in administration has pursued.

The move is “absolutely not” going to help with the declaration, said Go of Asan Institute.

“These new sanctions measures are likely to … make North Korea even more skeptical about conducting dialogue with the Biden administration,” Go explained, adding that North Korea may respond to the new sanctions with “provocations” next year.

Hong of KINU agreed: “North Korea is probably wondering the most right now whether the U.S. is really sincere about the end-of-war declaration, and if they are willing to change their attitude [toward the DPRK] through that.”

“But seeing the U.S. continuing and adding sanctions at this timing, North Korea will likely reiterate their old position that the U.S. is having a ‘dualistic’ attitude, allegedly talking about dialogue on the outside but trying to ‘isolate and pressure the DPRK to death’ through sanctions behind its back.”

Edited by Arius Derr and Bryan Betts