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The United States said Wednesday the newly announced sanctions against North Korea and a North Korean company, while already in place from previous measures, reinforce concerns about proliferation activities by the communist regime.

The "net effect" of the sanctions may be the same, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.

"It's an indication once again of the serious concerns that exist about behavior by North Korean entities with respect to these kinds of technology transfers."

The State Department, through a Federal Register notice effective as of Wednesday, imposed two-year sanctions against the North Korean government and one of its corporations for missile development and proliferation activities.

Punitive measures prohibit the U.S. from the new licensing of munitions transfers, government contracts and imports related to North Korea's missile development or production.

The U.S. also sanctioned the Korea Mining and Development Corporation (KOMID) and its subsidiaries for two years for missile proliferation, imposing the same restrictions plus a ban on all U.S. government procurement or assistance to the company.

Two Iranian entities, Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO) and the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG), were also put under sanctions.

SHIG is the producer of Iran's Shahib missiles, known to have been built using North Korea's medium-range missile parts and technology.

According to the Washington Times, U.S. officials believe missile transfers by KOMID took place more than a year ago.

The latest measures come as envoys from six nations -- South and North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan -- gathered in Beijing for a new round of negotiations aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Casey said North Korea's gambit "reinforces the idea of why we wish to move forward in the six-party talks with the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

Pyongyang's proliferation issues took on new urgency following allegations that the regime may be exporting its nuclear technology to Syria. Some believe this prompted the Israeli incursion into Syria earlier this month.

North Korea has long been suspected of selling missile parts and know-how to the Middle East.

Both Pyongyang and Damascus have denied any nuclear cooperation between them.

The North Korean government and KOMID are already sanctioned under the U.S. executive order and previous Treasury sanctions that froze the corporation's assets in the U.S. and prohibited all transactions between it and U.S. citizens.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (Yonhap)