Calling sanctions small step, U.S. warns N. Korea of more
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday new U.N. sanctions “are nothing compared to what ultimately will have to happen” to stop North Korea’s nuclear march. U.S. officials showed Congress satellite images of illicit trade to highlight the challenge of getting China and Russia to cut off commerce with the rogue nation.
The U.N. Security Council’s new restrictions could further bite into North Korea’s meager economy after what Kim Jong Un’s authoritarian government says was a hydrogen bomb test Sept. 3. The world body on Monday banned North Korean textile exports, an important source of hard currency, and capped its imports of crude oil.
The measures fell short of Washington’s goals: a potentially crippling ban on oil imports and freezing the international assets of Kim and his government.
“We think it’s just another very small step — not a big deal,” Trump said as he met with Malaysia’s prime minister at the White House. “But those sanctions are nothing compared to what ultimately will have to happen.” He did not elaborate.
Despite its limited economic impact, the new sanctions add pressure on Pyongyang without alienating Moscow and Beijing.
North Korea condemned the decision, saying Tuesday that the United States would “suffer the greatest pain” it has ever experienced for leading the effort.
“My delegation condemns in the strongest terms and categorically rejects the latest illegal and unlawful U.N. Security Council resolution,” North Korean Ambassador Han Tae Song told the U.N.sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
Han said North Korea is “ready to use a form of ultimate means” but did not elaborate.