The United States has frozen the assets of two North Korean entities as part of efforts to end Pyongyang’s nuclear program and block its proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The State Department said in a statement Tuesday that it is pursuing the action against the General Bureau of Atomic Energy (GBAE) and the Korea Tangun Trading Corporation. The department said the move was part of U.S. efforts to prevent suspect North Korean entities from obtaining the financial and commercial means required to develop nuclear weapons and the missiles capable of delivering them.

The department noted that both the atomic energy agency and the trading firm had already been blacklisted by the United Nations back in July for their roles in North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and missile programs.

The statement said that any assets of the entities designated on Tuesday that are within U.S. jurisdiction must be frozen, adding that U.S. entities are prohibited from conducting any transactions with the agency or the trading firm.