It’s the first time Treasury has levied financial penalties related to sanctions on North Korea’s movie and animation industry, which experts say has quietly done business with foreign companies for decades, bringing the isolated and nuclear-armed North Korean regime vital revenue.
The Rome-based animation firm Mondo TV, S.p.a. sent wire transfers through US financial institutions to pay North Korea’s flagship studio, known as SEK, about $538,000 for outsourced animation work between May 2019 and November 2021, Treasury said in a statement.
To process the payments, SEK used “third-party companies” in China and the US that had accounts at “several” US banks, according to Treasury. A department spokesperson declined to name the US banks.
rnilf on
About time punishment was levied for this.
SEK Studio also worked on:
– The Simpsons Movie
– Futurama: Bender’s Big Score
– Invincible
– Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Among [many others](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEK_Studio). Lots of big animation projects have been contributing directly to North Korea without the audience’s knowledge.
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[An Italian animation company](https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/26/politics/italian-animation-company-north-korea-sanctions/index.html) has agreed to pay the US Treasury Department $538,000 for “apparent violations” of US sanctions against North Korea by doing business with a North Korean state-owned animation studio, the department said Wednesday.
It’s the first time Treasury has levied financial penalties related to sanctions on North Korea’s movie and animation industry, which experts say has quietly done business with foreign companies for decades, bringing the isolated and nuclear-armed North Korean regime vital revenue.
The Rome-based animation firm Mondo TV, S.p.a. sent wire transfers through US financial institutions to pay North Korea’s flagship studio, known as SEK, about $538,000 for outsourced animation work between May 2019 and November 2021, Treasury said in a statement.
To process the payments, SEK used “third-party companies” in China and the US that had accounts at “several” US banks, according to Treasury. A department spokesperson declined to name the US banks.
About time punishment was levied for this.
SEK Studio also worked on:
– The Simpsons Movie
– Futurama: Bender’s Big Score
– Invincible
– Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Among [many others](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEK_Studio). Lots of big animation projects have been contributing directly to North Korea without the audience’s knowledge.