Anchor: While seeking to resume working-level nuclear talks with North Korea, the U.S. has made it all the more clear that the pressure campaign will continue against the Kim Jong-un regime. Washington has cracked down on ship-to-ship oil transfers that help North Korea get around UN sanctions and warned Pyongyang against the deceptive practices. 
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report: Washington has sanctioned Taiwanese and Hong Kong firms for the alleged ship-to-ship transfer of banned fuel to North Korea.

Under the U.S. action announced Friday, two individuals and three shipping companies will face asset freezes and other measures for violating UN Security Council sanctions.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Taiwanese individuals last year used a Panama-flagged oil tanker to transfer a total of one-point-seven million liters of petroleum products to North Korean ships. The smuggled oil products were falsely registered as being destined for the Philippines.

While facing a wide range of sanctions against its nuclear and missile programs, North Korea has also been accused of getting around the UN Security Council's oil trade restrictions via ship-to-ship smuggling.   

Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury estimated that North Korea had at least 263 illicit ship-to-ship oil deliveries in 2018, which could amount to up to seven times more than the import cap the UN placed. 

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in a statement Friday warned against the deceptive oil transfer practices, saying shipping companies trading with North Korea are exposing themselves to significant sanctions. It added that existing U.S. and UN sanctions will be strictly enforced. 
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.