South Korea

2. Does South Korea implement UN sanctions?

As a member of the UN, South Korea is obligated to accept and carry out the measures taken by the UN. Generally, South Korea implements the UNSC resolutions based on the existing laws and regulations of South Korea and enacts enforcement decrees or notices to implement specific measures. The Foreign Trade Act, the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and the Customs Act are the examples of such implementation. Excerpts from these laws are as follows: Arms Embargo and related restrictions Embargoes and restrictions on the arms and related materials are governed by the Foreign Trade Act of the Trade, Industry and Energy. Under Article 5 of the Foreign Trade Act (hereinafter “Act”), the Minister for Ministry of Trade, Industry and Economy may provide a restriction or ban on exportation and importation of goods. Subsection 4 of Article 5 states that one of the grounds of such a restriction or ban is “when it is necessary to perform duties to maintain international peace and security.” By including this, South Korea provides a basis for implementing the UNSC resolutions on arms embargoes. Moreover, Article 19 of the Act prescribes that these measures are to be made in accordance with the principles of the multilateral international export control system. Article 32 of enforcement decrees of the Act prescribes of International Export Control System such as The Wassenaar Arrangement and The Nuclear Supplier Group. Based on this, from Article 19 to Article 25, the Act provides specific provisions for restrictions on the import and export of strategic materials (military items and dual-use items), mass destruction weapons, and materials that can be used for manufacturing, developing, using, and storing missiles. Other specific details are promulgated through a notice of trade of strategic materials to control restricted items to or from specific countries. As to sanctions against North Korea, even if an item is not identified as a strategic material based on the Foreign Trade Act and the “Notice on Export of Strategic Materials to North Korea and Approval Process,” depending on the end-user, if the item can be used for manufacturing a mass destruction weapon, South Korea implemented measures such as a catch-all ban to control the exports since 2003. Moreover, South Korea controls transfer of technical training, consulting, and services prohibited by the UNSC resolutions under the South-North Exchanges and Cooperation Act. After the Cheonan incident, South Korea also bans eight items related to nuclear, missile, and chemical weapons and thirteen items identified as luxury goods through the “Notice on Export of Strategic Materials to North Korea and Approval Process.” Screening and blocking measures South Korea implemented measures of screening and blocking based on the UNSC resolutions through various Acts such as the Customs Act, Aviation Act, Public Order In Open Ports Act, and Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone Act. Pursuant to these Acts, South Korea screens and blocks suspicious cargos within its territory that are shipped to, or originated from, North Korea. Financial and economic sanctions In South Korea, the ministries responsible for financial and economic sanctions are the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of Justice, the Financial Services Commission, and the Ministry of Unification as to North Korea sanctions. Among these, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance mainly implements the sanctions resolutions through the “Guidelines for payment and receipt permits for the Implementation of Obligations for the Maintenance of International Peace and Security.” The Minister of Strategy and Finance places a list of sanctioned entities, as specified in the Guidelines, on the Ministry’s website and its official gazette, and sends them to related agencies and foreign exchange banks and requests implementation of economic sanctions against these entities. The NGOs then devise concrete and detailed measures to implement the measures based on the above laws and guidelines. On the other hand, the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Justice regulates financial transactions for manufacture, acquisition, maintenance and development of mass destruction weapons under the laws on the reporting and use of certain financial transactional information, the laws on the regulation and punishment of crime concealment, and the laws on the prohibition of fundraising for activities threatening the public. The Financial Intelligence Unit under the Financial Services Commission collects and analyses transactions from financial institutions that allegedly committed money laundering and provides information of such financial transactions determined to be related to illegal transactions, money laundering, or fundraising for threatening the public to the legal enforcement institutions such as the Prosecutors Office, the Police Office, the National Tax Service, and the Financial Services Commission. The Unit is also responsible for making agreements and exchanging information with foreign financial intelligence units. With regard to North Korea, South Korea prohibits financial and cash services, establishment of North Korean banks, and joint ventures with North Korean entities pursuant to the laws on the South-North Exchanges on Cooperation and the laws on South-Korean Cooperation Funds. Ban on travel The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Unification are responsible for implementing travel ban. The Ministry of Justice implements restrictions based on immigration law. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sends a list of persons and entities against whom travel ban is imposed under the UNSC resolutions to the Minister for Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Justice adds them on the national border checkpoint list based on the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act. Moreover, pursuant to Article 9 of the South-North Exchanges and Cooperation Act and the National Security Act, the Ministry of Unification regulates South Korean citizens visiting North Korea and North Korean citizens visiting South Korea. When sanctions are imposed under the UNSC resolutions and the persons are identified, the Ministry of Unification updates the list of persons against whom travel ban is imposed.