President Donald Trump announced that he will put North Korea on America’s blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism. This way he will try to isolate Pyongyang even more for the pursuit of nuclear weapons. According to the president, further penalties will be imposed and result in the highest level of sanctions ever placed on North Korea. Trump added that this should have been done years ago. The sanctions are part of a maximum pressure campaign over North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons that could soon pose a direct threat to the U.S. mainland, Associated Press reported.
The announcement came only a few days after Trump got back from Asia. Officials from the White House telegraphed the move before Trump’s departure and national security adviser H.R. McMaster a few weeks ago said that the killing of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother played into the decision. Kim Jong-nam was killed at a Malaysian airport with a banned nerve agent.
North Korea was removed from the list in 2008 in a bid to salvage international talks aimed at halting its nuclear efforts, but the talks collapsed. North Korea will now join Iran, Sudan, and Syria on the list. Now the United States will be able to cut off foreign assistance, weapons sales, commercial exports and financial transactions with North Korea, The Hill reports.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that this is a very symbolic move and that practical effects may be limited because North Korea is already sanctioned by Washington.
“We still hope for diplomacy. This is only going to get worse until you’re ready to come and talk,” Tillerson said.
In the meantime, South Korea and Japan welcomed Trump’s move and said that it will ramp up pressure on the reclusive regime to get rid of the nuclear weapons.
“I welcome and support (the designation) as it raises the pressure on North Korea,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
The Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull also supported Trump’s decision.
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