U.N. to place 1st travel ban on N. Korean gov't officials, scientists

NEW YORK, July 15 Kyodo - A U.N. sanctions committee is making final adjustments to place a travel ban on about a dozen North Korean government officials and scientists involved in the country's nuclear and missile development, a move that could lead to the first U.N. travel ban on North Korean individuals, diplomatic sources at the world body said Wednesday.

The committee of the U.N. Security Council is also likely to designate more
North Korean-related entities as subject to asset freezes, further toughening
sanctions against the country, as aimed for by Japan and the United States.
The list of individuals to be placed under the travel ban could be announced as
early as Wednesday, but with China still withholding its answers with regard to
some of the individuals the list could be subject to some last-minute changes,
the sources said.
The list includes high-class officials of North Korea's national defense
committee and physicists that Japan and the United States had named.
The travel ban will be based on the U.N. Security Council resolution adopted
June 12, following North Korea's nuclear experiment in May. Once the ban is
finalized, U.N. member states must deny them entry.
China and Russia were initially reluctant to take the measure, saying
additional sanctions against the country were unnecessary, but they accepted
most of the list in the end.
The sanctions committee has already designated three entities as subject to an
asset freeze due to suspected activities related to nuclear weapons and missile
development in North Korea.
==Kyodo