U.S. Penalizes N. Korean Firm for Arms Sale

The Bush administration has quietly imposed sanctions on a North Korean company for selling Scud missile parts to Yemen, State Department officials said Thursday night.

The administration decided on the penalties against Changgwang Sinyong Corp. last Friday, an official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said the U.S. government imposed the sanctions because of the company’s sale of missile components, but would not say which country bought them. A second official named Yemen as the purchaser.

U.S. authorities asked Yemen why it bought the parts, and officials in that country apologized, promised not to do so again and pledged to help in other areas, one official said.

No penalties are planned against Yemen, which is an ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

Under the sanctions, Changgwang Sinyong will be barred for two years from obtaining new individual export licenses through the U.S. Commerce or State departments for any controlled missile technology items.

The sanctions will have little practical effect, one official said, because there is so little commerce between the United States and North Korea.

In October 2000, 17 American sailors were killed in an attack on the destroyer Cole during a refueling stop in Yemen. The blast was blamed on Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terrorist network.