Treasury plans new actions against North Korea after ballistic missile tests

The U.S. Treasury Department plans to announce new actions on Friday that aim to prevent North Korea from accessing foreign items and technology that enable it to advance its prohibited weapons programs, a senior Biden administration told reporters on Thursday. The official said the actions come after the U.S. government concluded that North Korean ballistic missile tests on Feb. 26 and March 4 involved a relatively new intercontinental ballistic missile system that the isolated Asian nation is developing. Those tests represented a “serious escalation” by North Korea, though they didn’t demonstrate “ICBM range or capability,” the official said. The U.S. has ordered intensified intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance collection activities in the Yellow Sea, as well as “enhanced readiness” for ballistic missile defense forces in the region, the official added.

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