The United States has imposed new sanctions on a Myanmar company accused of brokering arms deals for the country’s military, including weapons sourced from North Korea.
The US Treasury Department announced on Thursday that it had blacklisted Royal Shune Lei Company Limited, along with five individuals tied to arms networks in Myanmar and North Korea.
The measures freeze all US assets belonging to the company and the five individuals, prohibit US persons and institutions from doing business with them, and warn non-US firms of potential penalties if they continue to engage with the sanctioned entities.
Royal Shune Lei, established in Yangon in 2016, has long been accused of supplying weapons and dual-use goods to Myanmar’s military. Reports indicate the company may have facilitated arms transfers from North Korea in 2022, in violation of United Nations sanctions.
According to the Treasury, the firm brokered a weapons deal with North Korea’s Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID) and later held multiple meetings in China to arrange additional sales, including aerial bomb guidance kits and airborne monitoring equipment for the Myanmar Air Force.
Those sanctioned include Royal Shune Lei CEO Tin Myo Aung and directors Aung Ko Ko Oo and Kyaw Thu Myo Myint, as well as North Korean nationals Kim Yong Ju and Nam Chol Ung, who are linked to KOMID. The Treasury said Royal Shune Lei and its executives were designated under Executive Orders targeting both North Korea’s arms trade and Myanmar’s defence sector.
Myanmar Now contacted Royal Shune Lei for comment, but did not receive a response.
The move builds on earlier sanctions imposed on Royal Shune Lei by the European Union in December 2023 and by Canada and the United Kingdom in October 2024. Those coordinated actions also targeted other key suppliers to the junta, including the Shoon/Asia Sun fuel network, which has provided aviation fuel used in deadly airstrikes against civilians.
Advocacy group Justice For Myanmar (JFM), which has exposed many key players involved in supplying arms and military equipment to the junta, has also linked Royal Shune Lei to the regime’s procurements from Russia.
Since Myanmar’s military seized power in a February 2021 coup, Washington has steadily tightened sanctions on the regime, targeting generals, state-owned enterprises, banks, and arms suppliers.
