The European Union says it is imposing new sanctions on North Korea in retaliation for the country’s repeated nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
The new sanctions include investment bans on aerospace, metalworking and conventional arms-related industries, and prohibitions against providing computer services to people involved with mining and chemical industries.
An EU statement Thursday said the new sanctions were imposed because North Korea violated multiple U.N. resolutions and constitutes “a grave threat to international peace and security.”
The European Union asked North Korea to “cease its provocations and to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs” and begin talks with the international community.
Four people were also added to the EU visa ban and asset freeze list. Their names were not immediately released.
On Wednesday, North Korea launched a projectile about 60 kilometers into the Sea of Japan. Last month, North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into the sea in response to annual U.S.-South Korea military drills, which the North sees as a preparation for war.
Any launch of objects using the ballistic missile technology is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, but the North has defied the ban as infringement of its sovereign rights to self-defense and pursuit of space exploration.
The sanctions announced Thursday are the second round imposed on North Korea by the European Union since late February when Kim Jong-Nam, the estranged half-brother of leader Kim Jong-Un, was assassinated in Kuala Lumpur.