Washington:The U.S. Treasury Department has announced a proposal to broaden restrictions on American investments in sensitive technologies to include North Korea, alongside several other nations. This move is part of Washington's strategy to prevent adversaries from leveraging U.S. capital to enhance their advanced military capabilities.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the proposed regulations, which are set to be published in the Federal Register, aim to extend the current Outbound Investment Security Program. This program, which already includes China, Hong Kong, and Macau, would now also cover North Korea, Russia, Iran, and Cuba.

The initiative is intended to implement the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act, which was enacted as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. This proposal outlines that certain investments by U.S. persons in foreign entities involved in specified sensitive technologies would be prohibited, while other transactions would require notification.

The regulations target key technology sectors such as semiconductors, microelectronics, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum information technologies, high-performance computing, and supercomputing. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that these proposed regulations aim to prevent adversaries from using U.S. investment to develop critical technologies that could pose threats to U.S. national security.

The public has until December 7 to comment on the proposed regulations, after which the Treasury Department is expected to issue final implementing rules.