A United Nations Security Council panel on Thursday put five companies, including one based in Iran, and five North Koreans under UN sanctions because of their links to Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile activities, according to dpa. The 15-nation council's sanctions panel also banned two goods to be imported by North Korea: Graphite designed or specified for use in Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) machines and para-aramid fiber (Kevlar), filament and tape. The panel took the decision based on a resolution adopted in June by the council, which decreed a comprehensive sanctions regime against Pyongyang for exploding a nuclear device on May 25 and for test-firing ballistic missiles. It was North Korea's second nuclear test since 2006. The sanctions in the form of a freeze on assets will take place immediately, said Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu, whose country felt directly threatened by Pyongyang's nuclear activities. "The decision by the North Korean sanctions committee is formal and final," Takasu told reporters. Takasu said the decision, like other UN Security Council resolutions, is binding on UN members. The panel imposed a freeze of assets belonging to Namchongang Trading Company, Hong Kong Electronics, Korea Hyoksin Trading Corporation, General Bureau of Atomic Energy and Korean Tangun Trading Corporation.
