hankyoreh

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with his younger sister Kim Yo-jong during field guidance on the east coast

Based on an executive order issued by US President Barack Obama on Mar. 16, the US Treasury Department added the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the North Korean Workers Party (KWP) to its sanctions list for the first time.

The department is directed by Kim Yo-jong, younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Considering that the KWP Propaganda and Agitation Department is not directly connected with developing nuclear weapons or earning foreign currency but rather plays a key role in developing and spreading propaganda aimed at legitimizing the North Korean regime, the Treasury Department’s move appears to be aimed at the regime itself, according to multiple South Korean government officials and experts who spoke with the Hankyoreh.

The KWP Propaganda and Agitation Department, which is in charge of ideological censorship and control and the Pyongyang regime’s propaganda, supervises North Korea‘s media, publishing, culture and the arts.

Contrary to the predictions of some pundits, Kim Yo-jong was not included on the list of additional sanctions against North Korea that the South Korean government announced on Mar. 8. Seoul explained that there was no evidence that Kim was the director of the KWP secretariat connected with developing nuclear weapons and missiles.

While Seoul’s explanation suggested that Kim Yo-jong’s status as vice director of the KWP Propaganda and Agitation Department was not enough reason for including her in the sanctions, the department appears to have been placed on the US sanctions list because of its connection with North Korean human rights issues.

“The Workers’ Party of Korea has full control over the media, which it uses as a tool to control the public,” the US Treasury Department said.

The KWP Propaganda and Agitation Department was one of 15 organizations, two individuals and 20 vessels from North Korea that the US Treasury Department specified as being subject to sanctions.

The two individuals are Cho Yong-chol and Ri Won-ho, who are working in Syria and Egypt, respectively, on behalf of North Korea’s State Security Department.

The organizations include the Cheonbong, Hoeryong, and Samilpo shipping companies; Ilsim International Bank; and the Goryeo Technology and Trade Center.

The vessels that were placed under sanctions included vessels that fly the North Korean flag, including the Cheongbong, Changrim, Hoeryong and Mirim, along with ships flying the flags of Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Palau and Mongolia that are affiliated with the Ocean Maritime Management (OMM) company, which was placed under sanctions by UN Security Council Resolution No. 2270.

Mar. 2015. It was Yo-jong‘s first time accompanying her brother on field guidance. (Yonhap News) 　

By Kim Jin-cheol, staff reporter

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