The US on Tuesday issued sanctions on two citizens of North Korea over the alleged involvement in the country's ballistic missile programmes.
As a result of the action, any property or interests of the designated persons in the US will be blocked and transactions by Americans involving these persons are generally prohibited, said a US Treasury Department statement, Xinhua reported.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have reached an unprecedented level this year as North Korea launched a nuclear test and multiple missile launches and the United States and South Korea have constantly conducted joint military drills.
The crisis has also been worsened by the exchange of personal insults and confrontational rhetoric between the leaders of the United States and North Korea.
The US administration, under President Donald Trump, has been sticking to a strategy of "maximum pressure" on North Korea to force it to abandon its weapons programmes, but so far has failed to achieve its goals.