New U.S. financial sanctions against North Korea will target 23 businesses and four individuals.

An official at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said that 23 companies with ties to North Korea will face the new financial sanctions, including a Swiss-based firm in which North Korean companies and banks have invested.

To-be-sanctioned North Korean individuals include the alleged caretaker of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's secret funds and the head of the Swiss firm.

Washington is planning to announce a new administrative order against the communist country and the blacklist by the end of this month in accordance with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which was legislated in 1977.