US slaps more sanctions on North Koreans
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced harsh new shipping sanctions against North Korea on Friday — a clear signal, near the end of an Olympic Games marked by a rapprochement on the Korean Peninsula, that his pressure campaign against Pyongyang will not let up.
‘‘Today, I am announcing that we are launching the largest-ever set of new sanctions on the North Korean regime,’’ Trump said to the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
The measures target 27 shipping companies and 28 vessels, registered in North Korea and six other countries, including China. The Treasury Department said the shipping firms are part of a sophisticated campaign to help North Korea evade U.N. sanctions restricting imports of refined fuel and exports of coal.
Illicit ship-to-ship transfers of oil and coal on the high seas have allowed North Korea to avoid the worst of the pressure from sanctions against its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The smuggling has been linked to China and Russia, increasing tensions with the United States.
Still, it was not clear how successfully the United States can enforce the new measures. Cutting off the illegal trade, analysts said, will require interdicting ships at sea, and North Korea could well regard a blockade or forced inspections of its vessels as an act of war.
The timing of Trump’s announcement was notable, coming just hours after South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, played host at dinner to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, who is leading the U.S. delegation to the closing ceremony of the Games Sunday.
Under Moon’s liberal government, South Korea has begun engaging with the North. That has caused strain with the Trump administration, which had long ruled out any discussions with the government of Kim Jong Un until it curbs its nuclear and missile tests.
At Moon’s prodding, the White House now says it would be open to preliminary talks with North Korea. But the administration’s messages on North Korea are often contradictory, veering from openness to a hard line.
The Treasury Department released satellite photographs of an alleged ship-to-ship transfer involving a North Korean and a Panamanian vessel. The identity of the North Korean ship had been disguised.
In addition to China, the department sanctioned ships from Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Marshall Islands, Tanzania, Panama and Comoros. It did not blacklist ships or companies from Russia, even though Russia is suspected of supporting the illicit trade.
A senior administration official said the United States had raised concerns about smuggling with Russia and had previously designated Russian entities with links to North Korea.