U.S. sanctions Kim Jong Un over human rights abuses

It is the first time Kim Jong-Un has been personally blacklisted by the United States, which said he is behind widespread human rights abuses which have put North Korea “among the world’s most repressive countries”.

The Treasury Dept. added Kim and 10 other North Korean individuals and five entities, to the US sanctions list.

It was not immediately clear what immediate effect the new sanctions would have on North Korean officials, who seldom leave their isolated country.

“With these efforts, we aim to send a signal to all government officials who might be responsible for human rights abuses, including prison camp managers and guards, interrogators, and defector chasers, with the goal of changing their behavior”, said State Department spokesman John Kirby.

Numerous crimes are said to have been committed in the country’s political prison camps – known as kwanliso – which holds 80,000 to 120,000 prisoners where torture, execution, sexual assault, starvation and slave labour are common.

It is not the first time the United States has placed a head of state on a sanctions list.

These new sanctions appear to be the next step from United States’ recent attempt since North Korea was last sanctioned by the USA earlier this year, as those countries who once did business with what is often referred to as the “hermit kingdom” were under threat of being penalized by the US for doing so.

Kim’s designation represents a significant escalation in US sanctions against North Korea.

“We’re expecting it will help further raise awareness over the gravity of human rights conditions in the North and reinforce related discussions and measures in the global community”. The country has spent decades near or at the top of virtually all measures of state repression. Last month, the Treasury Department declared North Korea a “primary money laundering concern” – the toughest action it can take to discourage banks in any jurisdiction dealing with the country.

South Korea, which cut all political and commercial ties with its own sanctions against the North in February, welcomed the US move, saying it will encourage greater worldwide pressure on the North to improve its human rights record. North Korea rejected the resolution, saying it was politically motivated and based upon untrue fabrications.

Importantly, China, North Korea’s largest economic and political patron, joined in the action, which included ordering mandatory cargo inspections, a ban on the export of most natural resources and a prohibition on importing aviation fuel.

North Korea has also been mentioned by the presumptive presidential nominee for the Republican Party, Donald Trump, who likely as a reaction to the country being sanctioned by the USA over the years has offered to negotiate with leader Kim Jong Un rather than impose more sanctions.

USA and North Korea do not have formal diplomatic relations, although they retain a channel of communication through the North’s diplomatic mission at the United Nations in NY.

Szubin said the sanctions demonstrate the United States’ “determination to see them stopped”.

Human rights in North Korea are severely limited. Despite numerous rights being enshrined in the country’s constitution, in practice, there is no right to free speech, and the only radio, television, music and news providers that are deemed legal are those operated by the government. The State Department report said the bureau had been responsible for kidnapping South Korean and Japanese citizens and for assassinations over a period of decades. Aid workers are subject to considerable scrutiny and are excluded from places and regions the government does not wish them to enter.

North Korean defectors face harsh punishment and even execution after being repatriated from China, which does not recognize them as asylum seekers, according to human rights activists.