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U.S. beefs up sanctions on N. Korea by targeting ships+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)WASHINGTON, April 10_(Kyodo) _ The U.S. Treasury Department has decided to beef up sanctions on North Korea, banning U.S. concerns from owning, leasing, operating or insuring any North Korean-flagged vessels, according to a recent official notice. The notice was posted on the Federal Register last Thursday, with the new sanctions to come into effect May 8. The increased pressure on North Korea comes amid lingering dispute between Pyongyang and Washington over the U.S. financial sanctions on a Macao-based bank allegedly distributing counterfeit U.S. dollars and laundering money for the North. Pyongyang has repeatedly said it would not return to the six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions unless Washington removes the sanctions. The United States maintains they are law-enforcement matters unrelated to the nuclear talks, which also involve China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. U.S. administration sources said that almost no North Korea vessels make port calls in the United States, and the new sanctions will effectively have an economic impact of less than $1 million a year. According to the notice, the Treasury has added a provision to the Foreign Assets Control Regulations authorized under the Trading with the Enemy Act, which established economic sanctions against North Korea in 1950. The provision, effective May 8, prohibits "U.S. persons from owning, leasing, operating or insuring any vessel flagged by North Korea." The new regulation affects all U.S. citizens and permanent residents regardless of location, all people and organizations physically present in the United States, and all branches, subsidiaries and controlled affiliates of U.S. organizations throughout the world. Criminal penalties for violating the sanctions involve up to 10 years in prison, $1 million in corporate fines and $250,000 in individual fines. Civil penalties of up to $65,000 per violation may also be imposed, the Treasury said. |