Key facts
- The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released a list of medical devices requiring specific authorization for export to North Korea.
- This action tightens licensing requirements for these items amid North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats.
- The list includes items such as oxygen generators, pumps with specific flow rates, diagnostic medical imaging equipment, and laboratory equipment like freeze-drying and spray-drying equipment.
- The new licensing requirements could curb the exportation of dual-use items that could be used for both civilian and military purposes.
The U.S. Treasury Department has implemented stricter licensing requirements for the export of certain medical devices to North Korea. A notice published in the Federal Register on Friday by the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) details a list of medical devices that now require specific authorization for export, rather than falling under a general license that permits certain agricultural commodities, medicines, and medical devices.
The move appears to be a response to North Korea's ongoing development of nuclear and missile programs. The newly restricted items include equipment such as oxygen generators, pumps with flow rates exceeding one liter per minute, diagnostic medical imaging devices like gamma imaging and thermography equipment, and various laboratory items including freeze-drying and spray-drying equipment, decontamination showers, and carbon dioxide incubators.