在努力推动朝鲜政府取得无核化进展之际，特朗普政府周四将两家总部设在中国和俄罗斯的朝鲜控制的信息技术公司列入黑名单。
美国财政部宣布，被列入黑名单的是中国银星，其朝鲜籍首席执行官Jong Song Hwa及其在俄罗斯的姊妹公司沃拉苏斯银星公司。
财政部长努钦表示，制裁是为了阻断那些隐藏真实身份、躲在幌子公司后面使用化名的朝鲜信息技术工人，将非法收入输送到朝鲜。将他们列入黑名单将切断这些公司在美国可能拥有的任何财产，并禁止美国人与他们做生意。
财政部表示，朝鲜在国外销售一系列信息科技服务和产品，包括网站和应用开发，安全软件以及可用于军事和执法领域的生物识别技术软件。
美国表示，这些被列入黑名单的司也与参与朝鲜武器项目的组织有关。中国银星，也被称为延边银星网络技术有限公司，与朝鲜负责监督弹道导弹计划的军需工业部以及获取商品和技术以支持朝鲜国防研究和采购的国企有关。
财政部说，截至2018年中，中国银星与中国和其他公司的合作项目已经赚了数百万美元，而2017年初成立的俄罗斯沃拉苏斯银星在一年内赚了数十万美元。这两家公司都由朝鲜人管理。
尽管几乎没有朝鲜人可以上网，但美国表示，信息科技不仅是朝鲜威权政府的收入来源，也被用于盗窃和恐吓。
美国联邦检察官上周指控一名朝鲜籍计算机黑客对索尼影视娱乐公司发动破坏性的网络攻击，并发放出感染了150个国家计算机的WannaCry勒索软件病毒，使部分英国医疗保健系统陷入瘫痪。美国官员认为黑客是对索尼出品的电影“采访”的报复，这部影片由塞斯罗根和詹姆斯弗兰科主演，是一出以暗杀金正恩为故事主线的喜剧。朝鲜否认参与网络攻击。
特朗普政府正继续对朝鲜施加制裁压力，尽管特朗普总统与金正恩今年6月举行历史性峰会，以缓解双方之间就朝鲜核问题带来的紧张局势，
那次峰会是美朝领导人之间的首次会晤，但之后在如何实现双方同意的去核话目标问题上陷入外交僵局。不过，白宫周一表示，特朗普已收到金正恩提出举行第二次峰会的请求，并为此进行计划中。
The Trump administration blacklisted two North Korean-controlled information technology companies based in China and Russia on Thursday as it pushed for progress by Kim Jong Un’s government on denuclearization.
The Treasury Department announced it was designating China Silver Star, its North Korean CEO Jong Song Hwa, and its Russia-based sister company, Volasys Silver Star.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that the sanctions were intended to stop the flow of illicit revenue to North Korea from overseas IT workers hiding behind front companies and aliases. The designation blocks any property those targeted may have in the U.S. and prohibits Americans from doing business with them.
North Korea sells a range of IT services and products abroad, including website and app development, security software, and biometric identification software that have military and law enforcement applications, Treasury says.
The U.S. said that the companies targeted are also linked to the organizations involved in North’s weapons program. China Silver Star, also known as Yanbian Silverstar Network Technology Co., is associated with the Munitions Industry Department of North Korea’s ruling party which oversees the nation’s ballistic missile programs, and with a state corporation that obtains commodities and technology to support North Korean defense research and procurement.
As of mid-2018, China Silver Star had earned millions of dollars from collaborative projects with Chinese and other companies, and the Russia-based Volasys Silver Star, established in early 2017, had earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in under a year, the Treasury said. Both companies are managed by North Koreans.
Although virtually all North Koreans lack access to the internet, the U.S. says that IT is not only a source of revenue for its authoritarian government but used by the North for theft and intimidation.
Last week, U.S. federal prosecutors charged a North Korean computer programmer with devastating cyberattacks that hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment and unleashed the WannaCry ransomware virus that infected computers in 150 countries and crippled parts of the British health care system. U.S. officials believe the Sony hack was retribution for “The Interview,” a comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco in a plot to assassinate Kim. North Korea denied involvement.
The Trump administration has kept up sanctions pressure on the North, despite the historic summit between President Donald Trump and Kim in June that dialed down nuclear tensions between the adversaries.
That meeting, the first ever between leaders of the U.S. and North Korea, has been followed by a diplomatic impasse over how to achieve the agreed-upon goal of denuclearization. Still, the White House said Monday that Trump has received a request from Kim for a second summit, and planning is in motion to make it happen.