Trump slaps ‘heaviest’sanctions vs NKorea
WASHINGTON, D.C.: US President Donald Trump has rolled out fresh sanctions against North Korea-linked shipping assets, hailing the package as the “heaviest sanctions ever” levied on the Pyongyang regime.
Trump used a speech to conservatives just outside Washington to step up his campaign of “maximum pressure” designed to force North Korea to roll back its weapons programs.
“We imposed today the heaviest sanctions ever imposed on a country before,” Trump claimed at the end of a lengthy campaign- style address on Friday (Saturday in Manila).
In light of past US embargoes, that is likely an overstatement, but Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin confirmed the sanctions covered “virtually all the ships” North Korea is “using at this moment in time.”
Speaking to reporters in Pyeongchang on Saturday on a visit to the Winter Olympics, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said: “Hopefully we’ll see a change on the part of the North Koreans to start to denuclearize the peninsula, that’s what our focus is.”
She added: “I can tell you the president won’t make the mistakes the previous administration has and be soft or weak.”
Trump’s administration is locked in a nuclear standoff with Pyongyang, which is trying to develop missiles that could deliver an atomic weapon to major US cities.
The latest sanctions are designed to put the squeeze on North Korea’s already precarious economy and fuel supply.
In his speech on Friday, Trump had been expected to provide details of measures that target “56 vessels, shipping companies, and trade businesses,” but skipped that part of his prepared remarks.
“Frankly hopefully some- thing positive can happen,” he said instead.
During a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump said sanctions were only
“If the sanctions don’t work, we’ll have to go to phase two. Phase two may be a very rough thing,” he said, without elaborating.
Mnuchin said there were signs the punitive measures were starting to have an impact, but did not elaborate.
The North Korean military and broader economy depend heavily on imports of coal and oil from China and Russia.
China, Pyongyang’s only major ally, has steadfastly rebuffed Washington’s calls for a full oil embargo— fearing the chaotic collapse of the Pyongyang regime— but has accepted caps agreed at the United Nations.
The timing of the new measures coincides with the arrival in South Korea of Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
She is attending the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics, which have taken place against the backdrop of the crisis.
Ivanka Trump (left), wife of Korean President Moon Jae-in, Kim Jung-sook (center) and Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha (right) take a selfie while watching the final of the men’s snowboard big air event at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Center during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games on Saturday.
The 36-year-old businesswoman and now top aide to her father US ties with South Korea, which have been strained over how to deal with the North.
She was hosted in Seoul by President Moon Jae-in, who has long advocated talks rather than confrontation with North Korea.
“Mrs. Trump delivered a personal message to President Moon from President Trump about today’s North Korea related sanc- tions announcement at a small meeting at the Blue House,” the White House said.
“They also discussed the continued effort on the joint maximum pressure campaign against North Korea.”