<Anchor>



As North Korea continued its missile provocations, the US imposed additional sanctions.

The U.S. military authorities have raised the level of warning against North Korea, saying that they will continue to take military action if North Korea continues provocations.



Correspondent Yunsu Kim from Washington.



<Reporter>



The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced that it would add one North Korean citizen and three institutions to the sanctions list.



The North Korean national is known to be involved in the purchase of missile-related goods in Belarus as an affiliate of the North Korean Academy of Defense Science, which leads the development of missiles.



North Korea's Air Koryo Trading Company, Russian Far East Bank, and Sputnik Bank have also been placed on the sanctions list for providing financial services to North Korea related to missile development.



The U.S. Treasury Department condemned North Korea's launch of 23 ballistic missiles this year alone, including six intercontinental ballistic missiles, all in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.



Unlike the successive US sanctions against North Korea, the UN Security Council voted on additional sanctions against North Korea, but the adoption failed due to opposition from China and Russia.



The U.S. Department of Defense emphasized that it is a sign of a strong alliance that the South Korean, U.S., and Japanese military authorities immediately started a response drill right after North Korea's recent ballistic missile launch.



[John Kirby/DOD Spokesperson: (The US-US-Japan response exercise) is a sign of a healthy, strong and vibrant alliance.

It is a testament to the value of our network of alliances and partnerships that we continue to grow and enhance in the Indo-Pacific region.]



The Pentagon has warned that military responses will continue if North Korea further causes instability on the Korean Peninsula.