Updated

The European Union has expanded its sanctions against North Korea adding 14 more people to an asset freeze and travel ban because of the country's continuing work on nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

The measures announced Thursday brings the total of people under the sanctions regime to 94.

North Korea's weapons tests are meant to build a nuclear and missile program that can stand up to what it sees as U.S. and South Korean hostility, but they are also considered by outside analysts as ways to make its political demands clear to international leaders.