§9241b Sanctions on Foreign Persons Employing North Korean Labor

Summary

The President must put sanctions on any person the law says is identified for sanctions, unless an exception applies. The sanctions use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to freeze and ban all dealings in that person’s property or property rights when the property is in the United States, comes into the United States, or is owned or controlled by a U.S. person. A person can avoid being designated if the President tells the appropriate congressional committees that he has reliable assurances that three things are true: North Korean workers’ employment does not send convertible currency, luxury goods, or other stores of value to the North Korean government; all wages and benefits go directly to the workers and are kept in accounts in the country where they live in the local currency; and the workers have working conditions that meet international standards. Not later than 180 days after the first certification, and every 180 days after that, the President must send a recertification saying these conditions still hold. If the President cannot send that recertification, the sanctions must start on the day he decides he cannot send it.