U.S. Targets Swiss Firm for Ties to Pyongyang

The U.S. Treasury Department designated a Swiss firm and its president as backers of weapons proliferation because of ties to North Korea and ordered their U.S. assets to be frozen.

Kohas, an industrial supplies wholesaler, was named for its ties to Korea Ryonbong General Corp., a company whose U.S. assets had been ordered frozen by President Bush, the Treasury Department said.

Kohas, headed by Jakob Steiger, acts as a technology broker in Europe for the North Korean military and has procured goods with weapons-related applications, the department said.