As you might have seen on the news today, Trump has now said he’s going to re-designated N. Korea as a state sponsor of terror:
FOX NEWS – President Trump said Monday that he plans to designate North Korea as a “state sponsor of terrorism” again.
Speaking during a Cabinet meeting, Trump said the designation will impose even greater sanctions on North Korea amid rising nuclear threat tensions with the Asian nation. He said the label is long overdue and is part of the U.S. “maximum pressure campaign” against North Korea.
“In addition to threatening the world by nuclear devastation, North Korea has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism including assassinations on foreign soil,” Trump said.
U.S. officials cited the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half-brother in a Malaysian airport in February as an act of terrorism.
This was also done in the name of Otto Warmbier and appropriately so.
Here’s what that means:
Trump promised the designation would impose additional penalties on North Korea.
Sanctions can include: restrictions on foreign assistance from the U.S.; ban on defense exports and sales; control over certain exports of dual use items; and other financial restrictions.
Other people and countries could also be sanctioned if they engage in “certain trade with state sponsors,” the State Department said.
That last one is interesting to me, because in some ways I think this could be seen as a slap in the face to China after Trump’s visit there last week. It would mean we can sanction them if they keep trading with N. Korea and enabling them.
So perhaps this move isn’t just to put pressure on N. Korea, but also China as well.