The US Treasury Department has issued new rules, banning American financial institutions from opening or maintaining accounts created on behalf of North Korean banks.
The move on Friday, which extended sanctions already imposed on the isolated Asian country over its nuclear and missile programs, closed off Pyongyang’s access to the US financial system.
The American financial institutions must “apply additional due diligence measures to prevent North Korean financial institutions from gaining improper indirect access to US correspondent accounts,” according to a statement by the Treasury Department.
“North Korea continues to use front companies and agents to conduct illicit financial transactions — some of which support the proliferation of WMD and the development of ballistic missiles — and evade international sanctions,” said Adam J. Szubin, acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
“Such funds have…