The U.S. will reportedly delay its announcement of new sanctions on North Korea until the end of this month.

South Korean government sources say the announcement of the new sanctions will come later than expected due to internal reviews and administrative preparations by the U.S. government.

The U.S. began preparing a new administrative order on sanctions against the North after U.S. coordinator of North Korea sanctions Robert Einhorn returned to the U.S. from a three-day visit to South Korea from August first to the third.

In relation, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said on August fourth that the new U.S. sanctions on North Korea would be announced within two weeks.

With the later-than-expected announcement of the sanctions, a planned visit to China by Einhorn has also been postponed from late this month to early next month.