South Korea imposes sanctions against individuals and organizations from Russia and North Korea

The South Korean authorities have imposed unilateral sanctions against 11 individuals and 15 organizations from Russia, as well as against high-ranking members of the DPRK army for alleged "illegal military cooperation" between the countries. The relevant information was published on December 17 on the website of the country's foreign ministry.

"These sanctions are part of cooperation in response to military cooperation [between Russia and the DPRK] <...> It is planned that these sanctions will come into force from 00:00 Thursday, December 19," the text reads.

Among the individuals and companies on the sanctions list were Roman Alar and PARSEC LLC, Igor Michurin and Ardis-Bearings LLC, Alexander Gaevoy and Apollo LLC.

In addition, generals of the Korean People's Army Kim Young Bok, Shin Geum Chul, missile engineer Lee Seong Jin and officer Lee Bong Choon also fell under the sanctions.

It is specified that the decision to impose sanctions was taken by the South Korean government after the joint statement of the governments of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Britain and the United States to condemn the alleged "illegal military cooperation between Russia and the DPRK".

Earlier, on December 16, EU foreign ministries gave final approval to the 15th package of economic and individual sanctions against Russia. The list of restrictions includes 54 individuals and 30 organizations. Restrictions were also imposed on 52 vessels, which were banned from entering ports and a wide range of services related to maritime transportation.

Prior to that, in late June, South Korea updated its export control list for shipments to Russia and Belarus, adding another 243 items. With more items, the list will be expanded to 1,402 goods. It is noted that the list includes metal-cutting equipment, parts of optical devices and sensors.

In April, the Republic of Korea imposed sanctions on two Russians and their companies, which, according to Seoul, are involved in recruiting IT specialists from the DPRK in foreign countries to help Pyongyang earn money for the development of nuclear weapons. The sanctions list includes Sergei Kozlov, head of Intellect LLC, and Alexander Panfilov, head of Sodeobedity LLC Alexander Panfilov.

In early March, it became known that South Korea, following the European Union, banned the supply of lithium-ion batteries, including those for electric vehicles, to Russia as part of the expansion of sanctions.

Western countries tightened sanctions pressure on Russia in connection with the special operation to protect Donbas. The decision to launch the operation was announced on February 24, 2022 after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.