South Korea Imposes Sanctions on North Korea and Russia Over Military Cooperation in Ukraine War

South Korea will impose sanctions on individuals and companies “involved in illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea,” according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry of South Korea on December 17.

South Korea’s sanctions target 11 individuals and 15 companies, and will enter into force on December 19.

On the list of those to be sanctioned are high-ranking North Korean generals leading DPRK troops in Russia, Kim Yong Bok and Shin Geum-cheol, senior missile engineer Lee Seong-jin, as well as the elite North Korean military unit known as the ‘Storm Corps,’ which is currently participating in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The sanctions will further target 7 Russian individuals and 13 Russian companies, including several banks, which South Korea determined to be facilitating the trade of weapons and military equipment between Russia and North Korea.

Beginning from December 19, the financial transactions of sanctioned individuals and companies will require the approval of the Financial Services Commission or of the Governor of the Bank of South Korea in order to be processed.

North Korea recently gave Russia its most destructive multiple-launch rocket system yet, the M1991. Originally designed to devastate Seoul, the system’s 60-kilometer range matches the distance from the North Korean border to the South Korean capital and is capable of inflicting massive urban destruction.

On December 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Russia had deployed North Korean soldiers for the first time to attack Ukrainian positions in Russia’s Kursk region.

Since then, Ukraine has confirmed over 80 North Korean casualties in Russia’s Kursk region.

South Korea has provided humanitarian and non-lethal aid to Ukraine, but has refrained from supplying weapons due to legislative constraints.