U.S. adds sanctions against North Korea
Trump says China will restrict access to banking system
New measures target the international pariah’s textiles, fishing and shipping industries.
UNITED NATIONS — President Donald Trump announced Thursday a new round of sanctions against North Korea as he struggles to confront that country’s determination to build a nuclear arsenal.
After threatening earlier this week to “totally destroy” North Korea if it uses its nuclear weaponry against U.S. territory or allies, Trump told reporters he was issuing a new executive order, adding more sanctions to those that the United States and allies already have imposed.
He said the measures would target North Korea’s textiles, fishing industry and shipping.
Sanctions against those industries are already in place, so it was not clear what was different about the additional ones.
Under the executive order, the U.S. Treasury Department will be able to blacklist any businesses and individuals who trade or do financial work with North Korea.
That could force other nations and foreign businesses to make a choice: “Do business with the United States ... or the lawless regime” of North Korea, Trump said.
He repeated that he wants nothing less than “a complete denuclearization of North Korea.” Many observers call that standard all but impossible, given Pyongyang’s progress to date.
Potentially significant was Trump’s claim that China had agreed to restrict North Korea’s access to its banking system. China is North Korea’s chief ally and responsible for 90 percent of its trade.
The Trump administration has repeatedly sought Beijing’s cooperation in enforcing sanctions, but China is nervous about causing the government in North Korea to collapse because it might trigger a refugee crisis or broader instability.
However, there were questions about whether China had actually agreed to that, and the White House would not go into detail.
“Secretary (Steven) Mnuchin (of Treasury) and People’s Bank of China (Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan) had a productive meeting this morning,” said White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah.
Also, China has previously agreed to enforce sanctions against North Korea, only to later pull back.
Richard Nephew, a sanctions expert in the Obama administration, said the new measures represented a “fairly sizable escalation” in pressure against North Korea.
But he said the key will be if the U.S. begins using the new powers to sanction Chinese banks that deal with North Korea.
“This is, in my view, the potential start of a process that could go slowly or swiftly, but it is certain that no decision has been made yet whether to actually hit (the) Chinese bank,” Nephew said. “There is a general authority here to sanction exporters and importers, which is probably more likely to be used first than the finance thing (against banks.)”
Already, the U.S. and the U.N. have imposed tough economic sanctions against North Korea that eat away at its export income, imports and revenue from workers its sends overseas. But none of those measures has curbed efforts by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to develop inter-continental missiles capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to the United States.
Trump, on the margins of the annual United Nations General Assembly, also met Thursday with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, the two neighbors of North Korea with the most at stake in the showdown.
Trump, asked by a reporter if diplomatic talks with North Korea were still possible, said, “Why not?”
Few diplomats or arms control experts foresee Kim abandoning his nuclear arsenal — now estimated to include 20 to 60 bombs.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has called on the country to stop testing ballistic missiles as a confidence-building measure to allow diplomacy to proceed.
But Kim has shown no interest in such talks. Responding late Thursday to Trump, Kim said the American president was “deranged,” a “rogue” and a “gangster” who would “pay dearly” for his insults to North Korea, according to the North Korean state news agency.
Earlier this week, Trump referreed to Kim as “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission.”
Mnuchin said the sanctions that Trump authorized Thursday were stronger because they would target any transaction with North Korea and anyone who facilitated such transaction.
“The objective is for them to give up their ballistic weapons,” he said, adding he had no timeline for when China’s banking measures might have an impact.