South Korea sanctioned two Russian ships linked to North Korea’s arms trade with Moscow on Tuesday, as well as Russian individuals and companies allegedly involved in Pyongyang’s deployment of overseas information technology workers.

Alongside the unilateral sanctions, Seoul’s foreign ministry issued a press release calling on Russia to immediately cease “illegal cooperation” with North Korea, especially military cooperation in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

South Korea’s designation of the Russian-flagged Lady R and Angara comes after the U.S. previously sanctioned the vessels for their work with the Russian military in connection with the Ukraine war, alleging that they facilitated weapons trade between Moscow and Pyongyang.

However, these ships — as well as others blacklisted by the U.S. in connection with the arms operation — remain active in North Korean and Russian waters, highlighting the challenges of enforcing maritime sanctions.

Under the new sanctions that go into effect on Wednesday, the Russian vessels will not be able to enter South Korean ports without special permission.

“It’s only natural that [South] Korea is executing sanctions against those particular ships,” Yang Uk, a military analyst at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told NK News. 

Following Russia’s move to block the renewal of the U.N. Panel of Experts monitoring DPRK sanctions, Moscow is trying to “break down the sanctions regime” by increasing weapons trade with Pyongyang, the expert said.

He added that this increasing military cooperation has left Seoul with little choice but to “punish” Moscow, even if this hurts South Korean business interests in Russia.

In addition to the designation of the Russian vessels, South Korea imposed sanctions on Russian firms Intellekt LLC and Sodeistvie for their alleged involvement in sending North Korean IT professionals and other workers abroad to earn foreign currency in support of Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development.

Seoul also designated Sergey Kozlov and Aleksandr Panfilov, the heads of Intellekt and Sodeistvie, respectively, for supporting the illicit fundraising efforts of Pyongyang’s Academy of Defense Sciences by facilitating DPRK workers in Russia.

The U.S. previously designated Intellekt and Kozlov in September for their role in generating revenue for North Korea’s nuclear development through the deployment of overseas IT and construction workers. 

Japan followed suit in December with sanctions against them, as Washington, Tokyo and Seoul looked to tighten the net on DPRK sanctions evasion with coordinated designations.

The allies’ recent sanctions and advisories targeting Pyongyang’s deployment of IT professionals and other workers highlight continuing concerns over their role in earning foreign currency for the regime.

Citing the Panel of Experts’ latest report, the ROK foreign ministry noted that Russian court records list around 250 cases of local firms hiring North Korean workers over the past year, even though U.N. sanctions prohibit work permits for overseas DPRK laborers and mandated their repatriation to North Korea by Dec. 2019.

The Panel reported that some 100,000 North Korean workers remained employed abroad as of last year, with IT workers alone reportedly earning anywhere between $250 and 600 million for Pyongyang annually.

Edited by Alannah Hill