North Korea missile makers hit with US sanctions

The United States has placed sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their country’s ballistic missile programme

The United States has places sanctions on two North Korean officials behind the development of nuclear missiles.

The US treasury named the two men as Kim Jong-sik and Ri Pyong-chol, and said both were “key leaders” in North Korea’s ballistic missile programme.

The US treasury secretary said Kim was reportedly a key figure in North Korea’s efforts to switch its missile program from liquid to solid fuel, while Ri was reported to be a key official in its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development.

“Treasury is targeting leaders of North Korea’s ballistic missile programs, as part of our maximum pressure campaign to isolate North Korea and achieve a fully denuclearized Korean peninsula,” treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

The steps were the latest in a campaign aimed at forcing North Korea to abandon a weapons programme aimed at developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States.

North Korea has since said the move was "an act of war" and tantamount to a total economic blockade.

The new sanctions will block any transactions by the two men carried out in the US, essentially freezing any American assets they may have and prohibit any dealings by US citizens with them.

Both men are regularly photographed alongside North Korea leader Kim Jong-un at missile launches.

The sanctions come in response to Pyongyang’s 28 November firing of a ballistic missile, which the US said was its highest yet.

 In the past year, the country has tested ever more ambitious types of missile, and said it can now reach the entire continental United States.