South Korea yesterday imposed financial sanctions on seven individuals and organizations from Taiwan and Syria after they were linked to weapons trade with North Korea.
The list revealed by South Korean government officials included Taiwanese businessman Tsai Hsien-tai (蔡顯泰), also known as Alex Tsai, who was sentenced to two years in jail by a US court in March for his involvement in the supply of weapons-manufacturing machinery to North Korea, as well as Tsai’s wife, Su Lu-chi (蘇綠綺), and another Taiwanese man surnamed Chang (張).
Three Taiwanese companies were named: Global Interface Co (全球介面公司) and two subsiduaries, Trans Merits Co Ltd (跨優異股份有限公司) and Trans Multi Mechanics Co Ltd (台灣台中鳳笙有限公司).
Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, a state-run institution that focuses on developing missiles, is also suspected of arms trade with North Korea, according to an official from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who did not want to be named, citing office rules.
Any South Korean who trades with these sanctioned individuals or organizations without permission can be jailed for up to three years or fined up to US$268,000.
South Korea imposes the same sanctions on 32 individuals and organizations sanctioned by the UN Security Council over arms trade with North Korea.
The two Koreas remain technically in a state of war, split along the world’s most heavily fortified border, because the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. Tensions between the countries have increased recently over the opening of a UN office in Seoul tasked with monitoring human rights in North Korea. The North has called the office a grave provocation.
North Korea’s Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced two South Koreans to life in prison with labor after finding them guilty of spying for Seoul, a move analysts saw as retaliation over the opening of the UN office.
Additional reporting by CNA
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
RSS