Australia sanctions 2 North Korean companies, ‘financial brokers’

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - Australia has sanctioned two North Korean companies and two “financial brokers” for "financing" the country's "unlawful weapons programs," an official statement said Friday.

"The North Korean entities and individuals sanctioned ... facilitate North Korea’s use of fraudulent IT workers to raise revenue for the regime’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs," said Foreign Minister Penny Wong in a statement.

"These workers obtain remote employment while posing as nationals of other countries, constituting a violation of UN Security Council resolutions that prohibit North Korea’s export of labour," she added.

The two men sanctioned by Australia as Sim Hyon Sop and Yu Py Ung, who were “identified by US authorities as key financial brokers for the regime," according to ABC News.

Pyongyang has “repeatedly denied setting up shadow financial networks and says the allegations against it are fabricated,” the report added.

North Korea remains one of the most sanctioned nations due to its nuclear program.

Wong said the sanctions were imposed "on the findings of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team" and "we are taking this action in coordination with international partners, including the European Union."

"We call on North Korea to comply fully with UN Security Council resolutions and to take concrete steps towards complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation," she added.

Canberra's actions come after Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team last month claimed that 35,600 to more than 100,000 North Korean workers remained in at least 17 countries, mainly China and Russia, despite UN sanctions requiring their repatriation.

Some were involved in manufacturing military drones in Russia.

Pyongyang, however, has rejected such claims, accusing the group of misrepresenting legitimate economic cooperation as violations of UN sanctions.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry called the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team a “ghost group lacking any legality."

The monitoring team was established in October 2024 after Russia blocked renewal of the mandate of the UN Panel of Experts responsible for monitoring sanctions on North Korea.

Its 11 members are the US, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK.

Riyaz Khaliq Khaliq