Sanctions have been slapped on seven senior North Koreans, including Kim Jong-Un's sister, because of the country's human rights record.
The US Treasury Department said the officials, all from the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, had been added to the Specially Designated Nationals List.
Mr Kim's younger sister is 27-year-old Kim Yo-Jong, who the Treasury says is the vice director of the Workers' Party of Korea Propaganda and Agitation Department.
Acting OFAC Director John Smith said: "The North Korean regime not only engages in severe human rights abuses, but it also implements rigid censorship policies and conceals its inhumane and oppressive behaviour."
The State Department said the action was being done at the same time as the release of its second report on North Korean human rights abuses and censorship.
It said North Korea's rights record was among the worst in the world.
Pyongyang "continues to commit extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest and detention, forced labour, and torture", the department said.
"Many of these abuses are committed in the political prison camps, where an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 individuals are detained, including children and family members of those subject to persecution and censorship."
Another on the list is Minister of State Security Kim Won-Hong, whose agency, the department said, "engages in torture and inhumane treatment of detainees during interrogation and in the country's network of political prison camps".
Kim Yo-Jong was said to have temporarily replaced her brother when he was not seen in public for a month in autumn 2014.
More recently she is said to have emerged as the most important woman in her brother's life, being seen in public with Kim more regularly than his wife Ri Sol-Ju.
Like her brother, some of her education is believed to have been carried out abroad in Switzerland.
Follow The Forefront on:
> facebook Nigerian audience
> The Forefront on Twitter
>BBM Channel: C002CB006 {WELCOME TO THE FOREFRONT}
> The Forefront on Twitter
>BBM Channel: C002CB006 {WELCOME TO THE FOREFRONT}
Share this post with others on social media with options below.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Disclaimer!!! Opinions expressed in comments do not represent THE FOREFRONT MEDIA NG's views. All participants are entitled to their opinions. Thank you!!!
Advertise on the Forefront: For advert placement in the blog or advert posts like news updates, reach +2348124620827 [WhatsApp].
Copyright 2023 The Forefront Media Ng. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from The Forefront Media Ng