The United States ended measures against Korean corporations it had sanctioned for violating nonproliferation laws related to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missile development after about seven months. The originally set sanction period was two years.
According to the U.S. State Department's advance notice in the Federal Register on the 7th, the U.S. government decided on the 27th of last month to terminate the nonproliferation measures it had imposed on Korean corporations JS Research and its successor corporations, subordinate organizations, and subsidiaries. It decided to end the measures imposed on Jan. 22 under the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA). The relevant details are scheduled to be officially published in the Federal Register on the 8th (local time).
INKSNA is a U.S. law that allows sanctions on foreign corporations or individuals involved in the transfer of goods and technology related to weapons of mass destruction or missile development in Iran, North Korea, or Syria. In January, the United States designated JS Research as a sanctions target along with North Korean national Choe Chul-min, the State Affairs Bureau of the Second Academy of Natural Sciences (SANS FAB) of North Korea, and corporations based in China, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The advance notice was posted on the 4th. In the notice, the U.S. State Department disclosed only the fact of the termination and the decision date, without explaining specific reasons.
Because the termination came unusually quickly, attention is also focusing on its possible connection to a change in U.S. policy toward Syria. With the sanctions on JS Research known to be related to transactions with Syria, the United States has recently been easing sanctions on Syria one after another.