Trump orders new sanctions against North Korea, Kim calls him 'deranged'

[webfact]

Trump orders new sanctions against North Korea, Kim calls him 'deranged'

By Steve Holland and David Brunnstrom

 

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had signed an executive order that would allow the United States to ramp up sanctions on North Korean firms in an effort to dissuade Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear missile program. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump ordered new sanctions against North Korea on Thursday and Pyongyang's leader defiantly vowed to persist with its nuclear and missile programs and said it would consider measures against the United States.

 

Tensions have risen as Pyongyang has resisted intense international pressure and the rhetoric between Trump and Kim Jong Un has also escalated. The U.S. president on Tuesday called him a 'rocket man' on a suicide mission and Kim described Trump early on Friday in Asia as "mentally deranged".

 

The escalating rhetoric came as even the U.N. Secretary General called for statesmanship to avoid "sleepwalking" into a war. South Korea, Russia and China all urged calm.

 

Kim said the North would consider the "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history" against the United States in response to Trump's threat to "totally destroy" the North in his first speech to the United Nations on Tuesday.

 

Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3 and has launched numerous missiles this year, including two intercontinental ballistic missiles.

 

Under Kim, North Korea has launched dozens of missiles as it accelerates a program aimed at enabling it to target the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile.

 

In his sanctions announcement on Thursday, Trump stopped short of going after Pyongyang's biggest trading partner, China, praising as "tremendous" a move by its central bank ordering Chinese banks to stop doing business with North Korea.

 

The additional sanctions on Pyongyang, including on its shipping and trade networks, showed that Trump was giving more time for economic pressures to weigh on North Korea after warning about the possibility of military action on Tuesday in his first speech to the United Nations.

 

Asked ahead of a lunch meeting with the leaders of Japan and South Korea if diplomacy was still possible, Trump nodded and said, "Why not?"

 

Trump said the new executive order gives further authorities to target individual companies, financial institutions, that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea". It "will cut off sources of revenue that fund North Korea's efforts to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind."

 

The U.S. Treasury Department now had authority to target those that conduct "significant trade in goods, services or technology with North Korea."

 

Trump did not mention Pyongyang's oil trade. The White House said North Korea's energy, medical, mining, textiles and transportation industries were among those targeted and that the U.S. Treasury could sanction anyone who owns, controls or operates a port of entry in North Korea.

 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said banks doing business in North Korea would not be allowed to also operate in the United States.

 

"Foreign financial institutions are now on notice that going forward they can choose to do business with the United States or with North Korea, but not both," Mnuchin said.

 

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said there were "some indications" that sanctions were beginning to cause fuel shortages in North Korea.

 

Trump's U.N. address was the most direct military threat to attack North Korea and his latest expression of concern about Pyongyang’s repeated launching of missiles over Japan and underground nuclear tests.

 

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously imposed nine rounds of sanctions on North Korea since 2006, the latest this month capping fuel supplies to the isolated state.

 

European Union ambassadors reached initial agreement to impose more sanctions on North Korea, going beyond the latest U.N. measures, officials and diplomats said.

 

"DANGEROUS DIRECTION"

 

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who met with Trump on Thursday and addressed the U.N. General Assembly, said sanctions were needed to bring Pyongyang to the negotiating table, but Seoul was not seeking North Korea's collapse.

 

"All of our endeavours are to prevent war from breaking out and maintain peace," Moon said in his speech. He warned the nuclear issue had to be managed stably so that "accidental military clashes will not destroy peace."

 

China's foreign minister Wang Yi urged North Korea not to go further in a "dangerous direction" with its nuclear programme.

 

"There is still hope for peace and we must not give up. Negotiation is the only way out ... Parties should meet each other half way, by addressing each other’s legitimate concerns.”

 

He later told a Security Council meeting that "confrontation and sanctions alone only lead to escalation of conflicts".

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned Pyongyang's missile and nuclear "adventures" but warned "military hysteria is not just an impasse, it’s a disaster."

 

In Geneva, North Korea told a U.N. rights panel sanctions would endanger the country's children.

 

Joseph DeThomas, a former State Department official who worked on Iran and North Korea sanctions, said the order would make U.N. resolutions more effective while not initiating an economic war with China, but added:

 

“Unfortunately, after the president's U.N. speech, it is very unlikely this will have a positive effect. At this point, no matter how many sanctions are piled on, the current government of North Korea simply cannot give in."

 

The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.

 

The North accuses the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.

 

(Reporting by Steve Holland and David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols and Arshad Mohammed in New York, Jeff Mason, Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu, Eric Walsh and Tim Ahmann in Washington and Robin Emmott in Brussels and Christine Kim and Soyoung Kim in Seoul; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Grant McCool and James Dalgleish)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-22

[inThailand]

There is only one non-violent way to settle this feud. DT and K go at in a jello pit. 

[Credo]

46 minutes ago, inThailand said:

There is only one non-violent way to settle this feud. DT and K go at in a jello pit. 

Ok, and once they have eaten all the Jello, then what?

 

[inThailand]

6 minutes ago, Credo said:

Ok, and once they have eaten all the Jello, then what?

 

They take turns hitting each other in the gut. Who ever pukes first looses.

[craigt3365]

2 hours ago, inThailand said:

They take turns hitting each other in the gut. Who ever pukes first looses.

Made my day.  Thanks!

[sweatalot]

I am afraid the world has to confront that their is no non violent way to end this crisis. Better end it soon than wait until NK has the power for devastation of a much bigger magnitude than now.

[inThailand]

1 minute ago, sweatalot said:

I am afraid the world has to confront that their is no non violent way to end this crisis. Better end it soon than wait until NK has the power for devastation of a much bigger magnitude than now.

Maybe that's exactly what DT is trying to do? Provoke K to act now so DT can retaliate now.

[craigt3365]

3 minutes ago, inThailand said:

Maybe that's exactly what DT is trying to do? Provoke K to act now so DT can retaliate now.

Trump has a different way of negotiating.  It's chaotic.  And impossible to know what he's thinking.  Not sure he even remembers. LOL

[Thailand]

 

[bartender100]

Trump is playing right into his hand by giving Kim world stage.

 

Name calling is just so childish, ignore him, make your plans and free the poor people of North Korea  to the 21st century

[55Jay]

Battle of the Trolls.

[Media1]

This fat Kim is a murderer that killed his own family. His army is scared of him. And once he is gone all will be OK.  

US need to locate him and launch a class B air strike and neutralise Kim.

[baboon]

1 hour ago, sweatalot said:

I am afraid the world has to confront that their is no non violent way to end this crisis. Better end it soon than wait until NK has the power for devastation of a much bigger magnitude than now.

Crisis? What crisis? It is just a shrill media overhyping a regional spat and here so many are, falling for it hook line and sinker yet again.

If the media went quiet then moved on to Venezuela most of the sheeple would forget all about this in 5 minutes. 

[craigt3365]

4 minutes ago, baboon said:

Crisis? What crisis? It is just a shrill media overhyping a regional spat and here so many are, falling for it hook line and sinker yet again.

If the media went quiet then moved on to Venezuela most of the sheeple would forget all about this in 5 minutes. 

Right.  Now Kim is threatening to detonate a hydrogen bomb over the pacific.  Hardly over hyping. 

 

Not nice calling people "sheeple".

 

Here's Kim's warmongering since he came to power.  Sick man.  Especially when that money could be use to feed a starving population.

 

[Tchooptip]

2 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Trump has a different way of negotiating.  It's chaotic.  And impossible to know what he's thinking.  Not sure he even remembers. LOL

 "Not sure he even remembers." 

Do not be too tough, in my opinion, he probably remembers a little bit ... sometimes.

 

 

 

[baboon]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

Right.  Now Kim is threatening to detonate a hydrogen bomb over the pacific.  Hardly over hyping. 

 

Not nice calling people "sheeple".

 

Here's Kim's warmongering since he came to power.  Sick man.  Especially when that money could be use to feed a starving population.

 

And if the media moved on to a new bogeyman in Caracas, Tehran or anywhere else this would be all forgotten about. The sheeple have a very limited attention span. As said, it is a regional spat, not an existential threat to the human race.

[craigt3365]

1 minute ago, baboon said:

And if the media moved on to a new bogeyman in Caracas, Tehran or anywhere else this would be all forgotten about. The sheeple have a very limited attention span. As said, it is a regional spat, not an existential threat to the human race.

Enough with sheeple.  It's condescending.

 

Nuclear weapons are the #1 threat to the human race.  Unless Caracas comes up with a nuclear weapon, and threatens the US, this will stay right at the top of the media.  Guaranteed.

[baboon]

3 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Enough with sheeple.  It's condescending.

 

Nuclear weapons are the #1 threat to the human race.  Unless Caracas comes up with a nuclear weapon, and threatens the US, this will stay right at the top of the media.  Guaranteed.

And as soon as they do move on, so will the sheeple. The #1 threat to the human race is whatever is decided for them.

[KIWIBATCH]

Two "loose units" running two countries both with nuclear capability......."Yes, you did...no I didn't...yes, you did...No I didn't........Don't talk to me like that...........stop threatening me........If you do that we will do this.......we are going to bomb you.....if you bomb us we will bomb you....and on it goes........

 

Geez unbelievable

[dunroaming]

“mentally deranged U.S. dotard”.

 

Don't know who the translator is but I do like their style.  Spot on with this one 

[mike324]

6 hours ago, sweatalot said:

I am afraid the world has to confront that their is no non violent way to end this crisis. Better end it soon than wait until NK has the power for devastation of a much bigger magnitude than now.

Easy for the world to say when they are not the ones living in South Korea. War will kills hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians living in both North and South Korea.

[baboon]

20 minutes ago, mike324 said:

Easy for the world to say when they are not the ones living in South Korea. War will kills hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians living in both North and South Korea.

Yep, attack, kill a load, leave the place in a worse mess than it was before, shrug and on to the next one.

[mrfill]

5 hours ago, Media1 said:

This fat Kim is a murderer that killed his own family. His army is scared of him. And once he is gone all will be OK.  

US need to locate him and launch a class B air strike and neutralise Kim.

Ah - so the same regime changing as was tried in Iraq (failed), Libya (failed) and Afghanistan (failed) where all is ok nowadays.

 

Or is it?

[craigt3365]

Just now, mrfill said:

Ah - so the same regime changing as was tried in Iraq (failed), Libya (failed) and Afghanistan (failed) where all is ok nowadays.

 

Or is it?

Hmmm...seemed to work out OK in Japan.  Germany.  Panama.  Baltics.  Etc.  Libya wasn't a regime change.  It was an uprising against a brutal dictator by those in that country.  Iraq was a massive failure for sure.

 

[craigt3365]

3 minutes ago, baboon said:

Yep, attack, kill a load, leave the place in a worse mess than it was before, shrug and on to the next one.

Or the alternative, let a nut job dictator test a nuclear device next to your country and have it release radioactive gasses that kill your people.  Or, have a missile go awry and fall on your population, killing people.

 

No easy answers.

[JHolmesJr]

Kim calls Trump deranged…..well, seems like he has something in common with the anti trump brigade on TV….LOL!

[Ron19]

A flame post has been removed. 

If this continues a holiday is on the cards.

[dunroaming]

There is no easy answer, as craig says.  The consequences of military action will cost thousands of innocent people their lives, many being children.  As with the current US president, it is the man at fault and not the North Korean people.

 

 

[mrfill]

9 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Hmmm...seemed to work out OK in Japan.  Germany.  Panama.  Baltics.  Etc.  Libya wasn't a regime change.  It was an uprising against a brutal dictator by those in that country.  Iraq was a massive failure for sure.

 

Except Japan and Germany were during a world wide conflict. Panama was removing a convicted drug dealer. Libya was most certainly a regime change and as for the 'Baltics' (which are generally considered to be Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) - none have been invaded or attacked.

And to add a few more to the list - Invasion of Vietnam (failed), Mozambique (failed) and Chile (failed).

 

It's not exactly a sparkling record.

[craigt3365]

2 minutes ago, mrfill said:

Except Japan and Germany were during a world wide conflict. Panama was removing a convicted drug dealer. Libya was most certainly a regime change and as for the 'Baltics' (which are generally considered to be Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) - none have been invaded or attacked.

And to add a few more to the list - Invasion of Vietnam (failed), Mozambique (failed) and Chile (failed).

 

It's not exactly a sparkling record.

But still regime change!  Libya was not.  The conflict started internally. 

 

Baltics never been attacked or invaded?  Seriously?  You need to research that a bit.

 

You seem to focus on the negatives.