WASHINGTON, January 6 (Sputnik) — The new sanctions against North Korea announced by the United States on Friday are an attempt by the US government to set a new precedent and will likely result in more individuals being added to the list, former director of Asian Affairs at the White House National Security Council told Sputnik on Monday.
“I think this is going to be a whole new level of sanctioning that we haven’t seen before… and it seems to me that they’re going to go after a lot of people,” Victor Cha said, commenting on the US Treasury Department’s recent decision to impose sanctions against 10 individuals tied to the North Korean government.
According to Cha, the new sanctions are aimed at sending a message to foreign actors that the United States will respond to cyber-attacks, like the recent attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment attributed to North Korea, “in a very personal way” by targeting individuals.
Asked whether the sanctions would be effective in achieving US goals, Cha stated that the 10 individuals targeted are only the beginning. “I think there will be more that will be put on that list. I think there will be encouragement of other countries to do the same thing, and so in aggregate I think it could be very effective,” he told Sputnik.
The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 10 individuals tied to the North Korean government as a response to North Korea’s alleged involvement in the recent cyber-attack against Sony, though several US officials have admitted that none of the targeted individuals had any relation to the hacking scandal.
Sony Pictures Entertainment, a US subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, was hacked in late November, some two weeks before the planned premiere of The Interview, a film about a fictional assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Top US administration officials argued on Friday that the new US sanctions are intended to cause other foreign governments and entities to choose not to do business with North Korea.
