South Korea bans 130 nuclear, missile-related items from North

SEOUL, June 21 (UPI) -- South Korea has registered 130 items on a new "watch list" that are to be monitored and banned from reaching North Korea.

Of the 130 items, 89 are nuclear-related and 41 are linked to missiles, local newspaper Donga Ilbo reported Tuesday.

The announcement is a follow-up to unilateral sanctions Seoul authorized on March 8 – embargoes that were imposed on North Korea in response to the country's fourth nuclear test in January and a rocket launch in February.

The list was assembled to fulfill requirements of the "catch-all" provision in United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270, South Korean news service Newsis reported.

Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman Cho Joon-hyuk told reporters Tuesday the list contains items that are not regulated under the Multilateral Export Control Regime, but can still contribute to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

The MECR is an international body for states organizing national export control systems. There are currently four MECR regimes, including the Nuclear Suppliers Group that aims to control nuclear-related technology.

South Korea is a member of NSG, according to Yonhap. The country plans to share the list with relevant agencies and NSG member states including the United States, Japan and China.

"By continuously making diplomatic efforts to share the list with the international community so that each country can make use of it to control its exports bound for the North, [Seoul] will play a leading role in implementing the U.N. Security Council's resolution," Cho said.

Chemicals that can be used to make bombs, such as lithium nitrate and lead, and even ball bearings, as well as high-speed video cameras, are on Seoul's watch list.