US slaps sanctions on DPRK for missile sale

The State Department slapped the punishment on the Stalinist state's Changgwang Sinyong Corporation, but stuck to its decision last year not to punish Yemen for ordering the consignment.

"We have assurances that this was the last part of the shipment and that there will be no further shipments," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

Tap Here to Add The Daily Star As A Trusted Source

"In consideration of our relationship, our cooperation on terrorism and consistent with the law, we're not imposing sanctions on Yemen for this activity at this time."

Crews of two Spanish navy vessels acting on US intelligence data, discovered the missiles after stopping and searching an unflagged merchant ship off the Yemeni coast last year.

But embarrassed US officials concluded that they had no power under international law to confiscate the missiles, which the Yemeni government said were intended for purely defensive purposes.

North Korea's missile development program has sparked concern for years, especially in Japan and the United States.

Washington is worried that the Stalinist state could deploy ballistic missiles capable of hitting US territory, and the prospect of them being twinned with nuclear weapons has sparked deep alarm.

AP adds: The Korean War ended 50 years ago, yet tensions remain high amid suspicion that North Korea is developing nuclear weapons. In a reminder of uneasiness along the world's most heavily armed border, the communist country Saturday warned of a new war.

The warning came ahead of the 50th anniversary Sunday of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 armed conflict on the world's last remaining Cold War frontier.