Associated Press
Washington, Nov 21: The Trump administration plans to announce new sanctions on North Korea Tuesday, after declaring it a state sponsor of terrorism in the latest push to isolate the pariah nation.
North Korea has joined Iran, Sudan and Syria on America’s terror blacklist, a largely symbolic step as the administration already has the authority to impose virtually any sanctions it wants on Kim Jong Un’s government over its nuclear weapons development.
As part of its “maximum pressure” campaign, President Donald Trump said the Treasury Department would impose more sanctions on North Korea and “related persons” starting Tuesday, without hinting who or what would be targeted. The move is part of rolling effort to deprive Pyongyang of funds for its nuclear and missile programs and leave it internationally isolated.
“It will be the highest level of sanctions by the time it’s finished over a two-week period,” Trump said. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday the pressure campaign was starting to bite in Pyongyang, which is already facing unprecedented U.N.- mandated sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. Tillerson said anecdotal evidence and intelligence suggests the North is now suffering fuel shortages, with queues at gas stations, and its revenues are down.
The United States has been applying sanctions of its own as well.
In Tokyo, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed the move, telling reporters Japan supports the step as a way to increase pressure on North Korea. But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang expressed concern.
Lu said Tuesday that the situation is “highly sensitive” and that it would be “helpful to bring all parties back to the negotiation table instead of doing the opposite.”
Da Zhigang, a North Korea expert at the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, said the move “will arouse diplomatic reactions and hatred toward the U.S. from North Korea” and could even prompt the North to resume missile tests.
In September, Trump opened the way for the U.S. to punish foreign companies dealing with North Korea. He issued an executive order expanding the Treasury Department’s ability to target anyone conducting significant trade in goods, services or technology with the North, and to ban them from interacting with the U.S. financial system.
