North Korea Sanctions Bill Goes to President for Signature
The House of Representatives on Feb. 12 passed H.R. 757, the North Korea Sanctions Act of 2016 (here), by a margin of 408-2, sending the comprehensive sanctions bill to be signed by President Barack Obama. The Senate had passed the bill unanimously on Feb. 10. The legislation would require Obama to regularly brief Congress on implementation efforts and to sanction and block the assets of the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea and the Daedong Credit Bank. Sanction designations will include individuals who have engaged in trading or attempting to trade any significant arms or luxury goods with Pyongyang, as well as money launderers, counterfeiters, cash smugglers, narcotics traffickers, or other “illicit activity” that “involves or supports the government of North Korea or any other senior government official.” Furthermore, the bill would punish Chinese companies that import or export graphite, aluminum, steel, coal or software to North Korea. The Senate voted 96-0 to pass the legislation.
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The law bars U.S.-affiliated individuals from engaging in any property and services transaction located in North Korea, or “of North Korean origin,” as well as transactions in which property was “knowingly transferred” to the North Korean government or in which the North Korean government “has an interest.” The President will deny or revoke a license for any transaction lacking adequate financial controls to ensure such a transaction will not facilitate prohibited conduct, according to the bill. “This legislation targets a wide range of the regime’s illicit activities as part of establishing a more effective and proactive policy to eliminate the danger from North Korea’s nuclear program and alleviate the suffering of the North Korea people,” Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said in a statement (here). “Achieving these objectives will require increased vigilance by the U.S. and the cooperation of the international community, especially from China, which must stop preventing the United Nations Security Council from taking further action against North Korea.”