The U.S. Department of the Treasury has added a North Korean bank and a banking official to a sanctions list for alleged illicit activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The department issued a news release and designated Amroggang Development Bank and North Korea's Tanchon Commercial Bank President Kim Tong-myong as proliferators of WMDs.

Tanchon has already been sanctioned by the United States and the U.N. Security Council for its alleged involvement in the North's proliferation activities. Kim, the head of the bank, has also allegedly played a role in managing Amroggang's affairs using the alias Kim Chin-sok.

The news release was issued right before North Korean Foreign Ministry official Ri Gun arrived in New York to take part in the Northeast Asia Cooperative Dialogue in San Diego.

The move reaffirmed the U.S. position that holding dialogue and imposing sanctions are two separate issues.