US sanctions Asian firms over North Korean fuel shipments

By FATIMA HUSSEIN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the midst of increasingly aggressive North Korean missile launches this week, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on people and firms in Asia accused of helping North Korea procure fuel in violation of U.N. sanctions. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted two people and three firms from Singapore, Taiwan and the Marshall Islands. The U.S. accuses them of moving fuel through an “illicit ship-to-ship transfer” that circumvents United Nations sanctions restricting the import of petroleum products and supports the development of North Korea’s weapons programs and military.