US will impose additional sanctions on N. Korea when necessary: state dept.

The United States will continue to enforce its sanctions and impose new ones on North Korea if necessary, a state department spokesperson said Wednesday when asked about possible illegal exports of North Korean products from a joint industrial complex.

The department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, added the US will also continue to crack down on efforts to evade sanctions by North Korea and its friendly nations.

When asked about North Korea's possible operation of the now defunct Kaesong industrial complex, the spokesperson said he will only say "that we will continue to enforce our sanctions and impose new sanctions when necessary."

South Korea's unification ministry said in June that Pyongyang has continued to operate the Kaesong industrial complex, years after South Korean businesses were forced to withdraw from the industrial park in North Korea while leaving all their equipment behind.

South Korea has repeatedly warned that it will seek legal actions against North Korea's "unauthorized" use of South Korean facilities and equipment at the industrial complex in Kaesong, located some 40 kilometers north of the inter-Korean border.

"I am not going to speak to it specifically other than to say that we will continue to impose and enforce our sanctions," Miller said when asked about possible shipments of products, including military uniforms, produced at Kaesong to Russia.

"We will look for evidence of people who are invading our sanctions. If necessary, we will tighten our sanctions and we will crack down using all the tools available to us," he added.

Miller and many other US administration officials have pointed out that any weapons deals with North Korea would violate multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.

North Korea reportedly provided artillery shells and other munitions to Russia for use in the latter's ongoing war in Ukraine, according to US officials.

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, earlier noted the North may be considering providing Russia with additional military support for its war against Ukraine following Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's trip to Pyongyang late last month. (Yonhap)