On January 2, 2015, President Obama signed an Executive Order authorizing the imposition of additional sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Workers’ Party of Korea. According to the press release, the Executive Order “escalates financial pressure on the Government of North Korea, including its agencies, instrumentalities, and controlled entities, by authorizing targeted sanctions that would deny designated persons access to the U.S. financial system and prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in transactions or dealings with it.”  The sanctions are in response to “the provocative, destabilizing, and repressive actions and policies of the Government of North Korea, including its destructive, coercive cyber-related actions during November and December 2014 . . . and commission of serious human rights abuses, constitute a continuing threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”