North Korea Sanctions

E.O. 13722 blocks the Government of North Korea and the Workers’ Party of Korea; prohibits the exportation and reexportation of goods, services (including financial services), and technology to North Korea; and prohibits new investment in North Korea. E.O. 13722 also adds new designation criteria, some of which are mandatory criteria from the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016.

Yes. E.O. 13722 implements certain U.S. obligations under UNSCR 2270 and certain provisions of the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016. U.S. sanctions against North Korea are generally broader than UN sanctions.

Yes. All property and interests in property of the Government of North Korea and the Workers’ Party of Korea are blocked. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them without authorization from OFAC and must block property or interests in property that are in, or come within, the United States or the possession of a U.S. person.

None.  E.O. 13722 prohibits the exportation or reexportation, from the United States, or by a United States person, of any goods, services, or technology to North Korea, unless authorized or exempt.  BIS maintains authority to license exports and reexports of items (i.e., commodities, software, or technology) subject to the Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR parts 730 through 774) to North Korea.   Section 510.520 provides that persons exporting or reexporting items to North Korea do not need to obtain a specific license from OFAC to engage in transactions ordinarily incident to such export or reexport or to service such items outside of North Korea, if the export or reexport has been licensed or otherwise authorized by BIS, even if the authorized export or reexport involves a person on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List), the Government of North Korea, or the Workers’ Party of Korea. 

Date Updated: February 15, 2024

No. Unless authorized pursuant to a general or specific license from OFAC and/or BIS, Executive Order (E.O.) 13722 prohibits new investment in North Korea by a U.S. person and the exportation or reexportation, from the United States, or by a U.S. person, of any goods, services, or technology to North Korea. E.O. 13810 (“Imposing Additional Sanctions with Respect to North Korea”) does not modify any of those prohibitions.

Yes. Several general licenses are incorporated into Subpart E of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations. See OFAC’s webpage on North Korea for any additional general licenses.

Yes. Section 510.511 of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations authorizes U.S. depository institutions (including banks), U.S.-registered brokers or dealers in securities, and U.S.-registered money transmitters to process non-commercial, personal remittances to or from North Korea, or for or on behalf of an individual ordinarily resident in North Korea, up to a maximum of $5,000 per year. Such transactions do not require further authorization from OFAC. This general license does not authorize any transactions by, to, or through a financial institution blocked pursuant to the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 544, or the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 594, or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to any part of 31 C.F.R. chapter V other than part 510.

Yes. Section 510.512(a) of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 510 (NKSR), authorizes NGOs that have filed the report specified in § 510.512 to conduct transactions that are ordinarily incident and necessary to the following activities:

1. activities to support humanitarian projects to meet basic human needs,, including disaster, drought, or flood relief; food, nutrition, or medicine distribution; the provision of health services; assistance for vulnerable or displaced populations, including individuals with disabilities and the elderly; and environmental programs and (the foregoing activities continue to include the distribution of clean water, bottled drinking water, and clothing, and provision of shelter);  
2. activities to support democracy building, including rule of law, citizen participation, government accountability, universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, access to information, and civil society development projects;
3. activities to support education at or below a secondary school level, including combating illiteracy, increasing access to education at the primary or secondary school level, and assisting education reform projects, provided that such education excludes the subjects of math, sciences, technology, engineering, and computer programming;
4. activities to support non-commercial development projects directly benefiting civilians, including those related to health, food security, and water and sanitation;  
5. activities to support environmental and natural resource protection, including the preservation and protection of threatened or endangered species, responsible and transparent management of natural resources, and the remediation of pollution or other environmental damage; and
6. activities to support disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs and peacebuilding, conflict prevent, and conflict resolution programs.

Such ordinarily incident and necessary transactions may include payment of reasonable and customary taxes, fees, and import duties to, and purchase of receipt of permits, licenses, or public utility services from the Government of North Korea.

In addition, for items that are not subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), § 510.512(a) authorizes the export or reexport of items ordinarily incident and necessary to the activities described above, provided the items would be designated as EAR99 if located in the United States.  For more information about OFAC and Commerce licensing requirements relating to the export or reexport of items that are subject to the EAR to North Korea, please see FAQ 459.

In most instances, exporters or reexporters no longer need to obtain licenses from both the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and OFAC to engage in transactions related to the export or reexport of items to persons blocked pursuant to the NKSR.  Section 510.520 authorizes transactions that are ordinarily incident to the exportation or reexportation of items to North Korea if the exportation or reexportation of such items is authorized by BIS.  Authorization from BIS is required to export or reexport any item subject to the EAR to North Korea, except food and medicine classified as EAR99 (see also the general license § 510.521 for transactions related to the exportation or reexportation of qualifying food and medicine to North Korea that are not subject to the EAR).

Additionally, § 510.512(c) explicitly authorizes U.S. depository institutions, U.S.-registered brokers or dealers in securities, and U.S.-registered money transmitters to process transfers of funds on behalf of U.S. or third-country NGOs, including to or from North Korea, in support of the activities described above. 

Date Updated: February 15, 2024 
 

While OFAC sanctions do not prohibit U.S. persons from traveling to or from North Korea, as of September 1, 2017, U.S. passports are invalid for travel into, in, or through North Korea. However, in limited circumstances, applicants may be eligible for a Special Validation Passport from the State Department that will allow them to travel for specific purposes. See travel.state.gov for additional details. U.S. persons who intend to travel to North Korea via a Special Validation Passport do not require OFAC authorization to engage in activities that are exempt pursuant to 50 U.S.C. § 1702(b), such as travel to or from any country or the importation or exportation of informational materials. All other activities outside the scope of this exemption would require a specific license from OFAC, unless otherwise authorized by OFAC. See, for example, FAQ 558 for additional information regarding news reporting organizations and journalists.

Section 510.510 of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations authorizes the provision of goods or services in the United States to employees of the official mission of the Government of North Korea to the United Nations or employees of the United Nations, their families, or other persons forming part of their household. Persons forming part of their household could include spouses, domestic partners, and dependent children.

E.O. 13810 provides the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, additional tools to disrupt North Korea’s ability to fund its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs. Specifically, E.O. 13810: (1) establishes several new designation criteria; (2) prohibits vessels and aircraft that have called or landed at a port or place in North Korea in the previous 180 days, and vessels that engaged in a ship-to-ship transfer with such a vessel in the previous 180 days, from entering the United States; (3) provides authority to block any funds transiting accounts linked to North Korea that come within the United States or possession of a United States person; and (4) provides authority to impose sanctions on a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducted or facilitated on or after the date of the order (i) any significant transaction on behalf of certain blocked persons or (ii) any significant transaction in connection with trade with North Korea. The sanctions applicable to foreign financial institutions can be restrictions on correspondent or payable-through accounts or full blocking sanctions.

The prohibitions in E.O. 13810 are implemented in the North Korea Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 510. See particularly §§ 510.201(a) and (d), 510.208, and 510.210. Section 510.518 allows vessels in distress to call at a U.S. port and aircraft to make a nontraffic stop or an emergency landing in the United States. A nontraffic stop includes a stop for any purpose other than taking on or discharging cargo, passengers, or mail.

Section 3 of E.O. 13810, as implemented in 31 C.F.R. § 510.201(d), authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to determine that a foreign bank account is owned or controlled by a North Korean person or has been used to transfer funds in which any North Korean person has an interest, and to require the blocking of funds that originate from, are destined for, or pass through that account. OFAC will either publish notice in the Federal Register or provide notice directly to affected parties. Absent such a determination or notice from Treasury, this provision does not create any immediate compliance obligations on U.S. persons.

Foreign financial institutions have for some time been prohibited from engaging in most North Korea-related transactions that transit the U.S. financial system. In addition, as described in § 510.201(a)(3)(vi) of the NKSR, sanctionable activities of a foreign financial institution include, on or after September 21, 2017, knowingly conducting or facilitating any significant transaction:

• On behalf of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13551, E.O. 13687, E.O. 13722, or E.O. 13810, or of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13382 in connection with North Korea-related activities; or
• In connection with trade with North Korea.

Pursuant to E.O. 13810 and the North Korea Sanctions Regulations, a finding by the Treasury Department that a foreign financial institution knowingly engages in one or more of the sanctionable activities is necessary before the Treasury Department can prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United States of correspondent accounts or payable-through accounts for that foreign financial institution. Such a finding also allows the Treasury Department the option of blocking the foreign financial institution. This authority is in addition to that granted Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) under section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act.

If, pursuant to the NKSR, Treasury decides to impose strict conditions on maintaining U.S. correspondent accounts or U.S. payable-through accounts for an FFI, or decides to prohibit the opening or maintaining of U.S. correspondent accounts or U.S. payable-through accounts for an FFI, Treasury will add the name of the FFI, together with the actual strict condition or conditions to be imposed, to the Correspondent Account or Payable-Through Account Sanctions (CAPTA) List on OFAC’s website (www.ofac.treasury.gov), and published in the Federal Register. (The CAPTA list will be included in the Consolidated Sanctions List Data Files, and will be available for download in all Consolidated Sanctions List data file formats.)

If the Treasury Department decides instead to block the property and interests in property of the FFI, the institution’s name will be placed on OFAC’s List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List).

The general license at § 510.522 of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 510 (NKSR), authorizes news reporting organizations that are U.S. persons, and their U.S. person employees to engage in certain transactions in North Korea, provided that such transactions are ordinarily incident and necessary to their journalistic activities or the establishment or operation of a news bureau in North Korea.  The authorized activities include: hiring and compensating support staff, logistics personnel, or other office personnel as needed; leasing or renting office space; renting and using telecommunications facilities; and, under certain conditions, exporting and reexporting to North Korea, and subsequently reexporting from North Korea, equipment that is not subject to the Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR parts 730 through 774) (EAR).  Exports and reexports of items that are subject to the EAR must be authorized pursuant to a license or license exception (for example, License Exception TMP) issued by BIS.

While certain transactions ordinarily incident to travel and certain exports and imports of information and informational materials are exempt under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. § 1702(b) (IEEPA), these exemptions do not apply to transactions prohibited pursuant to the United Nations Participation Act.

Moreover, as of September 1, 2017, U.S. passports are invalid for travel into, in, or through North Korea. However, in limited circumstances, applicants may be eligible for a Special Validation Passport from the State Department that will allow them to travel for specific purposes. See travel.state.gov for additional details.

Date Updated: February 15, 2024

On February 15, 2024, OFAC, in consultation with the Department of State, amended the NKSR to modify an existing general license (GL) and add three new GLs to facilitate humanitarian-related and other activities in North Korea.  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.  The general license at § 510.512 allows transactions that are ordinarily incident and necessary to such NGO activities involving certain Government of North Korea entities, including limited partnerships, subject to certain conditions and limitations–including that the NGO must submit a report to the U.S. Department of State at least 30 days before their proposed activities, as further described in FAQ 1162.

The amended NGO GL at § 510.512 authorizes the export and reexport to North Korea of items not subject to the Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR parts 730 through 774) (EAR) to North Korea that are ordinarily incident and necessary to authorized NGO activities, provided the items would be designated as EAR99 if located in the United States.

• 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.  Such transactions may include transactions with the Government of North Korea, or any other person blocked pursuant to the NKSR, and services provided outside North Korea to install, repair, or replace authorized items.  Accordingly, U.S. persons no longer need to seek a specific license from OFAC to engage in transactions ordinarily incident to exports and reexports that are already licensed or otherwise authorized by the Department of Commerce.

• 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.

• 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.
 

Yes, subject to certain conditions and limitations.  NGOs may engage in transactions with the Government of North Korea to the extent ordinarily incident and necessary to the activities authorized by § 510.512(a).  Such transactions may not include partnerships and partnership agreements with Government of North Korea military, intelligence, or law enforcement entities, except as necessary to export or import items to or from North Korea that are licensed or otherwise authorized pursuant to the NKSR or pursuant to the Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR parts 730 through 774) (EAR).  For example, NGOs may engage with North Korea’s Ministry of Public Health to provide assistance to clean water projects; with customs officials to import humanitarian-related items into the country; and with local jurisdictions, such as city governments and hospitals, to provide food and medical devices.  However, this general license does not authorize the exportation or reexportation of services to, charitable donations to or for the benefit of, or any other transactions involving, the Government of North Korea, the Workers’ Party of Korea, or any other person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the NKSR, except as ordinarily incident and necessary to an activity authorized pursuant to § 510.512(a). 

To be eligible for the NGO GL, an NGO must first submit a report to the U.S. Department of State via email to DPRK-NGO-GL-Notification-DL@state.gov no fewer than 30 days before the commencement of their activities, with one of the following:  (1) a copy of approval by the UN Security Council 1718 Committee (1718 Committee) with respect to the NGO’s activities; (2) a copy of a 1718 Committee exemption request or notification that has been or will be submitted to the 1718 Committee with respect to the NGO’s activities; or (3) a detailed explanation of why the NGO’s proposed activities do not require such an exemption or notification, including details about the type and scope of the proposed activities.  In the two-week period following submission of this information, the U.S. Department of State may notify the NGO that it is not eligible to rely upon the GL.  An NGO that does not receive this type of notification may proceed with the activities described in the report. 

No.  The general license for the exportation or reexportation of certain agricultural and medical items at § 510.521 of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 510, does not authorize the exportation or reexportation to North Korea of luxury goods, including tobacco, as set forth in 15 CFR § 746.4(b)(1) of the Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR parts 730 through 774).