The German branch of a state-run North Korean insurance company and its officials has been added to the European Union’s North Korea sanctions list.
 
Voice of America reported Saturday that during a Thursday meeting the Council of the European Union added the North Korean entity, which was established in Hamburg, Germany as a limited company, and its six officials on the sanctions list to freeze their funds and economic assets.
 
The EU said the affiliate firm in Germany is controlled by North Korea’s state insurance company, the Korea National Insurance Corporation, and generates a considerable amount of foreign revenue that supports the North Korean regime.
 
Separate from the UN Security Council sanctions, the EU first introduced its own sanctions against North Korea in July 2009 in the wake of North Korea's second nuclear test.