--- title: North Korea: U.S. Sanctions Chinese and Russian Firms description: The U.S. announced new sanctions on ten Russian and Chinese firms and six individuals accused of aiding North Korea's nuclear program canonical: https://time.com/4911882/north-korea-u-s-secondary-sanctions-china-russia-treasury/ author: Charlie Campbell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-23T04:53:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:30:37.026Z article:section: Politics og:title: U.S. Sanctions Chinese and Russian Firms Over North Korea og:description: Secondary measures target firms allegedly aiding regime's weapons program og:url: https://time.com/4911882/north-korea-u-s-secondary-sanctions-china-russia-treasury/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48791184de31b524/6988dabe8fd2ee78e5358865/gettyimages-837247818.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4724 og:image:height: 2657 og:image:alt: US-NKOREA-MILITARY-NUCLEAR-DIPLOMACY-CONFLICT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. Sanctions Chinese and Russian Firms Over North Korea twitter:description: Secondary measures target firms allegedly aiding regime's weapons program twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48791184de31b524/6988dabe8fd2ee78e5358865/gettyimages-837247818.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The U.S. Imposes Secondary Sanctions on Chinese and Russian Firms Over North Korea > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=394175c0-4655-4c1c-82a8-bbe0ba2490d2&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: New UN Sanctions Ban $1 Billion Worth of Exports From North Korea [Watch (HLS stream): New UN Sanctions Ban $1 Billion Worth of Exports From North Korea](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NliTj3jx.m3u8) (4:52)  _Published 2017-08-05. The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved new sanctions on North Korea including banning exports worth over $1 billion._  by [Charlie Campbell / Beijingg](https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell / Beijingg Editor at Large Aug 23, 2017 4:53 AM UTC The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved new sanctions on North Korea including banning exports worth over $1 billion.  by [Charlie Campbell / Beijingg](https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell / Beijingg Editor at Large Aug 23, 2017 4:53 AM UTC The U.S. has announced [new sanctions](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41018573) on ten Russian and Chinese firms as well as six individuals that it accuses of aiding North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, pilling more pressure on the Kim Jong Un regime just hours after a total of 67,500 South Korean and American troops began [11 days of combat drills](http://time.com/4910381/north-korea-us-military-drills/). The secondary sanctions drew a swift rebuke from China, which called on Washington to “immediately correct its mistake” of targeting its firms. Pyongyang had not responded to the secondary sections directly, but threatened “merciless retaliation and unsparing punishment” against the U.S. and South Korea for its parts in the annual drills, which the regime considers a dress rehearsal for invasion. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said his department “will continue to increase pressure on North Korea by targeting those who support the advancement of nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and isolating them from the American financial system.” The latest moves come after the U.N. Security Council on Aug. 5 unanimously passed Resolution 2371, which targets a third of North Korea’s $3 billion of foreign earnings — mainly iron, lead, coal and seafood exports — plus revenue streams through its banks and foreign ventures. In a tweet, Trump called it “the single largest economic sanctions package ever on North Korea.” The Aug. 5 sanctions announcement sparked an alarming [escalation of rhetoric](http://time.com/4894984/war-fiery-words-between-north-korea-us/). Trump warned Pyongyang’s escalating missile tests would be met with the “fire and fury” of nuclear war, while Kim responded by saying he was “examining” an attack on U.S. military bases on its Pacific territory of Guam. Resolution 2371 passed with the support of Russia and, somewhat surprisingly, China. The latter acquiesced, no doubt, partly to curry favor with Trump and hopefully avoid the large import levies he promised at the stump. In addition, under that deal Chinese banks didn’t face secondary sanctions. Tuesday’s announcement has narrowed that significant loophole. **Read More:** [_Donald Trump Could Be Starting a New Cold War With China. But He Has Little Chance of Winning_](http://time.com/4644775/donald-trump-china-trade-cold-war/) Since the mid-2000s, when coal prices were at record highs, North Korea has been exporting coal to China and squirreling away the proceeds in Chinese banks. According to John Park, director of the Korea Working Group at the Harvard Kennedy School, these “slush funds” would allow the regime to continue its weapons program for the foreseeable future. Tuesday’s sanctions included three Chinese coal companies that were assessed to have imported over $500 million of coal from North Korea between 2013 and 2016\. In addition were three Russian individuals and two Singapore-based firms involved in providing oil to North Korea. China still provides North Korea half-a-million barrels of oil every year on livelihoods grounds, and cutting off this supply is what [many](https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/6partytalks) observers believe brought Kim Jong Un’s father Kim Jong Il to the Six-Party denuclearization talks in 2003. Tuesday’s announcement also targets firms that facilitate North Korean workers to be employed overseas. An estimated 60,000 toil abroad as laborers and waitresses — chiefly in China, Russia and the Middle East — returning annual remittances worth some $500 million. According to Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific Chief Economist at IHS Markit, Tuesday marks “a significant shift in U.S. economic sanctions strategy to target third country entities and persons, with further targeted measures likely to ramp up pressure on any actors who try to act as a conduit for sanctioned North Korean entities.” ## Transcript Exactly one month ago, I came before members of the security council and declared that it was a dark day for the world, because of the dangerous and irresponsible actions of North Korea. Almost one week ago, I said the days of talking were over, and it was time to act. Today, the full security council has come together to put the North Korean dictator On notice. And this time, the council has matched it's words and actions. The resolution we passed, is a strong united step towards holding North Korea accountable for it's behavior. Today, the Security Council increased the penalty of North Korea's ballistic missile activity, to a whole new level. North Korea's irresponsible and careless acts have just proved to be quite costly to the regime. This resolution is the single largest economic sanction's package ever leveled against the North Korean regime. The price the North Korean leadership will pay for its continued nuclear and missile development Will be the loss of one- third of its exports and hard currency. This is the most stringent set of sanctions on any country in a generation. These sanctions will cut deep, and in doing so will give the North Korean leadership a taste of the deprivation they have chosen to inflict on the North Korean people. Nuclear and ballistic missiles, nuclear and ballistic missile development is expensive. The revenue's the North Korean government receives is not going towards feeding it's people, instead the North Korean [ UNKNOWN ] is literally starving it's people and enslaving them in mines and factories in order to fund these illegal. Nuclear program. Even as famine looms on the horizon, even as the regime continues to ask for international assistance to cope with devastating floods and a possible drought later this year, their displays of aggression take precedence over their own people. Even as we respond to the North Korean nuclear threat The United States will continue to stand up for the human dignity and rights of the North Korean people. It is the continued suffering of the North Korean people that should remind the Security Council that while this resolution is a significant step forward it is not nearly enough. The threat of an outlaw, nuclearized North Korean dictatorship remains. The unimaginable living conditions of so many of the North Korean people are unchanged. The North Korean regime continues to show that widespread violations of human rights go hand in hand with threats to international peace and security. I thank each and every one of my colleagues who worked so hard to bring this resolution to a vote. I have previously pointed out that China has a critical role to play on matters related to North Korea. I want to personally thank the Chinese delegation for the important contributions they made to this resolution. While the security council has done good work, the members of the security council in all UN member states must do more to increase the pressure on North Korea. We must work together to fully implement the sanctions we imposed today and those imposed in past resolutions. The step we take together today is an important one. But we should not fool ourselves into thinking we have solved the problem. Not even close. The North Korean threat has not left. It is rapidly growing more dangerous. We've seen two ICBMs fired in just the last month. Further action is required. The United States is taking and will continue to take Prudent defensive measures to protect ourselves and our allies. Our annual joint military exercises, for instance, are transparent and defense- oriented. They have been carried out regularly and openly, for nearly 40 years. They will continue. Our goal remains a stable Korean peninsula at peace without nuclear weapons. We want only security and prosperity for all nations including North Korea. Until then, this resolution [ UNKNOWN ] will be implemented to the fullest to maximize pressure on North Korea to its ways To change it's ways. Today is a good day at the United Nations. We will need many more such days in order to peacefully resolve the crisis that has been created by North Korea's dangerous and illegal actions. As I've said before, today we have taken one step. In the right direction. Thank you again to my colleagues and their teams for their action and support toward sending a strong message to the North Korean regime. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4911882/north-korea-u-s-secondary-sanctions-china-russia-treasury/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4911882/north-korea-u-s-secondary-sanctions-china-russia-treasury/"},"headline":"The U.S. Imposes Secondary Sanctions on Chinese and Russian Firms Over North Korea","datePublished":"2017-08-23T04:53:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:30:37.026Z","description":"Secondary measures target firms allegedly aiding regime's weapons program","url":"https://time.com/4911882/north-korea-u-s-secondary-sanctions-china-russia-treasury/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","russia","North Korea","China","Sanctions","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48791184de31b524/6988dabe8fd2ee78e5358865/gettyimages-837247818.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell / Beijingg"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48791184de31b524/6988dabe8fd2ee78e5358865/gettyimages-837247818.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-NKOREA-MILITARY-NUCLEAR-DIPLOMACY-CONFLICT","caption":"US-NKOREA-MILITARY-NUCLEAR-DIPLOMACY-CONFLICT","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4911882/north-korea-u-s-secondary-sanctions-china-russia-treasury/","name":"The U.S. Imposes Secondary Sanctions on Chinese and Russian Firms Over North Korea"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"New UN Sanctions Ban $1 Billion Worth of Exports From North Korea","description":"The U.N. 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