by Louie Bacani

The UK has reportedly expelled two London-based officials of North Korea’s state insurance company that received sanctions earlier this year.
 
Britain effectively deported the officials from North Korea’s National Insurance Corporation (KNIC) by refusing to renew their visas, South Korea’s state-run Yonhap News reported, citing a diplomatic source.
 
“It’s part of the implementation of sanctions to deny visas for those working for a sanctioned entity,” the source told the news agency.
 
The European Union (EU) and Britain blacklisted KNIC and its London office in April in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear weapon test in January.
 
According to Yonhap, the EU said the North Korean insurer is “generating substantial foreign exchange revenue which could contribute to the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s] nuclear-related, ballistic-missile-related or other weapons-of-mass-destruction-related programs.”
 
The EU also claimed that the insurance firm’s headquarters in Pyongyang is linked to “Office 39” of the Worker’s Party of Korea, the country’s ruling political party.
 
The said office takes care of the communist state’s secret funds, Yonhap reported.
 
 
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