By Yi Whan-woo

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday that the latest U.S. sanctions on a Turkish company are believed to have been made in line with Washington's strategy of pursuing dialogue with and sanctions on Pyongyang simultaneously.

The announcement came in response to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's blacklisting of Turkey-based SIA Falcon International Group, its Chief Executive Huseyin Sahin and General Manager Erhan Culha, Thursday, for allegedly breaching an international ban on the trade of weapons and luxury goods with the Kim Jong-un regime.

The two executives _ both Turkish nationals _ are suspected of negotiating weapons deals with Economic and Commercial Counselor Ri Song-un at the North Korean Embassy in Mongolia. The Treasury Department has blacklisted Ri as well.

The U.S. measures come as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to make his fourth trip to Pyongyang, Sunday, to reinvigorate denuclearization talks. Pyongyang has been disgruntled with economic sanctions against its regime despite its promise to give up its nuclear program.

"We assess the latest U.S. measure is in line with its willingness to engage in a denuclearization dialogue and discuss sanctions in a simultaneous and imperative manner," a foreign ministry official said in a text message.

According to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, SIA Falcon International Group and the two executives "blatantly attempted to flout longstanding U.N. sanctions against the North."

"Those penalties are intended to deprive the North Korean government of revenue for its nuclear weapons program," Mnuchin said in a statement. "The United States is deeply committed to the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, and will continue to enforce and implement sanctions until that time."

The Turkish company is now barred from doing business with Americans and holding property or having interests in property in the U.S.

Even as the U.S seeks to have a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, it has been stepping up sanctions on Pyongyang.

Since the groundbreaking summit between Trump and Kim on June 12 in Singapore, the U.S. has imposed six rounds of sanctions on North Korea and those who are involved in illicit trade with the regime.

Meanwhile, calls to SIA Falcon International Group's head office in Istanbul seeking comment went unanswered, according to Reuters. It said calls to its branch office in Latvia were met with a pre-recorded message in Arabic.