OFAC: North Korea Sanctions Update

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is amending the North Korea Sanctions Regulations to amend or add general licenses to facilitate certain humanitarian-related and journalistic activities.

These changes include:

Additional non-governmental organization (NGO) activities

OFAC amended the GL at § 510.512 to authorize NGOs to engage in a broader range of humanitarian-related activities involving North Korea, including certain educational activities and activities to support disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs and peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and conflict resolution programs.  

Removal of dual licensing burden

To avoid duplicative licensing requirements, OFAC added a new GL at § 510.520 to authorize all transactions ordinarily incident to the exportation or reexportation of items (i.e., commodities, software, or technology) to North Korea, provided the exportation or reexportation is licensed or otherwise authorized by the Department of Commerce.  Export Administration Regulations, 15 CFR parts 730 through 774 (EAR), that have been licensed or otherwise authorized by the U.S. Department of Commerce under the EAR, including on a “No License Required” (NLR) basis due to the availability of an EAR license exception.

Expansion of authorization for the exportation or reexportation of certain food, medicine, and other agricultural and medical items

OFAC added a new GL at § 510.521 to authorize certain transactions related to the export and reexport to North Korea of certain agricultural commodities (including food), medicine, medical devices, and replacement parts and components for medical devices, that are not subject to the EAR but that would be designated EAR99 if they were located in the United States, subject to certain conditions and limitations, (excluding “luxury goods” as described in 15 CFR 746.4(b)(1)).

Journalistic activities

OFAC added a new GL at § 510.522 to authorize U.S. news reporting organizations and certain of their U.S. person employees to engage in certain transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to their journalistic activities or the establishment or operation of a news bureau in North Korea.

OFAC has also issued several new North Korea-related Frequently Asked Questions (1160, 1161, 1162, 1163) and amended FAQs 459, 463, 558.

For more information on this specific action, please visit this page.