HONG Yong Chil

Vice Director of the Munitions Industry Department (MID). He is vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

Male

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202403152

Position-based reason

Executive

Vice Director of the Munitions Industry Department (MID). The MID – designated by the UNSC on 2 March 2016 – is involved in key aspects of the DPRK’s missile programme. The MID is responsible for overseeing the development of the DPRK’s ballistic missiles, including R&D programmes. The Second Economic Committee and the Second Academy of Natural Sciences – also designated in August 2010 – are subordinate to the MID. Hong was described in 2019 as one of the leading officials in the field of national defence science. He accompanied Kim Jong Un during the firing of a new type of tactical guided weapon, and during the inspection of a new type of submarine under construction. He was one of the scientists congratulated by Kim Jong Un in 2017 for the launch of the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and observed earlier engine tests and other ballistic launches. In 2016, he accompanied Kim Jong Un to a meeting with scientists in which research to mount nuclear warheads on tactical and strategic missiles was discussed. He may have played a significant role in the DPRK’s nuclear test on 6 January 2016. As such, he is responsible for supporting or promoting the DPRK’s nuclear-related, ballistic-missile-related or other weapons of mass destruction-related programmes.

EU

2024/3152 (OJ L16122024)

(Date of UN designation: 2016-05-20)

2024-12-16

EU

Restrictive measures in relation to the non-proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction

UN, EU country specific

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Asset freeze and prohibition to make funds available, Restrictions on admission

- All assets of the listed persons and entities should be frozen. It is also prohibited to make any funds or assets directly or indirectly available to them. - Member States shall enforce travel restrictions on persons listed in Annex I, II and III of Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/849. Member States shall also expel: (1) DPRK nationals who they determine are working on behalf of or at the direction of a listed person or entity, or who they determine are assisting in the evasion of sanctions; (2) individuals working on behalf of or at the direction of a DPRK bank or financial institution; (3) DPRK diplomats, government representatives or other DPRK nationals acting in a governmental capacity who they determine are working on behalf of or at the direction of a listed person or entity or of a person or entity assisting in the evasion of sanctions; (4) any national of a third country determined to be involved in similar activities.

The ongoing nuclear and ballistic missile-related activities of the DPRK represent a serious threat to international peace and security. These activities undermine the global non-proliferation and disarmament regime of which the EU has been a steadfast supporter for decades. In this context, the EU has implemented the restrictive measures imposed by Resolutions of the UN Security Council and has complemented them through its own autonomous measures. These measures target the DPRK's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile-related programmes. The first set of restrictive measures were introduced with the UN Security Council Resolution 1718 (2006), adopted shortly after DPRK´s first nuclear test on 9 October 2006. The UN Security Council has repeatedly adopted new measures and expanded existing ones, most recently on 3 September 2017. On 27 May 2016, for the first time, the Council of the EU adopted additional autonomous restrictive measures in relation to the DPRK on the grounds that its actions constitute a grave threat to international peace and security in the region and beyond. On 6 April and most recently on 16 October, the Council again introduced additional restrictive measures to further increase pressure on the DPRK to comply with its international obligations. The EU is determined to combat proliferation and committed to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, including through the consideration of new restrictive measures. Derogations and exemptions to the restrictive measures are possible, including the delivery of humanitarian aid.