Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announces that the Trump administration is hitting more than 50 vessels, shipping companies, and trade businesses with sanctions in a bid to turn up the pressure on North Korea over its nuclear program. (Feb. 23) AP
WASHINGTON – Hours after his administration slapped new sanctions on North Korea, President Trump on Friday raised the prospect of military action if economic pressure doesn't force North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.
"If the sanctions don't work we'll have to go to phase two, and phase two may be a very rough thing," Trump said during a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
He did not specify what "phase two" might involve, but he warned: "It may be very, very unfortunate for the world."
Trump and aides have not ruled out a military response to North Korea's nuclear threats.
Earlier in the day, the Trump administration targeted ships and companies helping North Korea to evade international sanctions on Friday, the latest move in the U.S. effort to pressure its leader Kim Jong Un into giving up his nuclear weapons program.
The new sanctions target 56 vessels, shipping companies, and trade businesses that the U.S. believes are assisting North Korea in evading sanctions. Speaking to conservative activists outside of Washington Friday, Trump described them as "the heaviest sanctions ever imposed" on a country.
"Through today's actions we are putting companies and countries across the world on notice," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "Those who trade with North Korea do so at their own peril."
The sanctions, he said, "shine a spotlight on the practices employed by the government of North Korea to falsify identification information on ships and illicit cargo."
As proof of the sanctions evasion scheme, the Trump administration released photos of ships with doctored registration numbers exchanging cargo with North Korean vessels at sea. One photo, taken last December, shows a Panamanian-flagged ship exchanging what was believed to be oil with a North Korean ship — which was masquerading as a Chinese vessel.
Mnuchin would not discuss whether the sanctions would ultimately be enforced by a full naval blockade of North Korea. But he noted that United Nations Security Council resolutions allow the United States to board and inspect the cargo of any vessel with the consent of the country whose flag flies on the ship.
The new actions, which come on the eve of closing ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, had been in the works for months but came "as soon as they were ready," Mnuchin said. The Trump administration has signaled the coming sanctions for weeks, including a visit by Vice President Pence to South Korea this month.
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In his speech to Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, Pence said, "we will keep standing strong until North Korea stops threatening our country, our allies, or until they abandon their nuclear and ballistic missiles once and for all."
Ivanka Trump arrived in Seoul on Friday to lead the U.S. delegation to the closing ceremonies, and Mnuchin said she had been briefed on the sanctions and informed South Korean President Moon Jae-in of them personally.
"My daughter, Ivanka, just arrived in South Korea," Trump tweeted hours before his speech. "We cannot have a better, or smarter, person representing our country."
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