Trump declares North Korea state sponsor of terrorism, triggers sanctions

[webfact]

Trump declares North Korea state sponsor of terrorism, triggers sanctions

By Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom

 

U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson look up during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump put North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, a designation that allows the United States to impose more sanctions and risks inflaming tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile programmes.

 

The Republican president, who has traded personal insults with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but has not ruled out talks, said the Treasury Department will announce additional sanctions against North Korea on Tuesday.

 

The designation came a week after Trump returned from a 12-day, five-nation trip to Asia in which he made containing North Korea's nuclear ambitions a centrepiece of his discussions.

 

"In addition to threatening the world by nuclear devastation, North Korea has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism, including assassinations on foreign soil," Trump told reporters at the White House.

 

"This designation will impose further sanctions and penalties on North Korea and related persons and supports our maximum pressure campaign to isolate the murderous regime."

 

Trump, who has often criticised his predecessors' policies toward Pyongyang, said the designation should have been made "a long time ago."

 

North Korea is pursuing nuclear weapons and missile programs in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and has made no secret of its plans to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. It has fired two missiles over Japan and on Sept. 3 fired its sixth and largest nuclear test.

 

South Korea's spy agency said on Monday the North may conduct additional missile tests this year to improve its long-range missile technology and ramp up the threat against the United States.

 

Experts say the designation will be largely symbolic as North Korea is already heavily sanctioned by the United States, a reality that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seemed to acknowledged while saying it would help dissuade third parties from supporting Pyongyang.

 

"The practical effects may be limited but hopefully we're closing off a few loopholes with this," he told reporters.

 

The United States has designated only three other countries - Iran, Sudan and Syria - as state sponsors of terrorism.

 

Some experts think North Korea does not meet the criteria for the designation, which requires evidence that a state has "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism."

 

In his remarks, Trump remembered Otto Warmbier, the college student from Ohio who died in June shortly after his return from North Korea, where he was held for more than a year.

 

His death caused outrage in the United States and further inflamed tensions with Pyongyang.

 

MOVE COULD BACKFIRE

 

A U.S. intelligence official who follows developments in North Korea expressed concern that Trump's move could backfire, especially given that the basis for the designation is arguable.

 

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said Kim could respond in a number of ways, including renewing missile or nuclear tests in "a very volatile environment."

 

The move also could undercut Trump’s efforts to solicit greater Chinese cooperation in pressuring North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile tests, the official said.

 

In any case, it will do little to open the way for U.S. dialogue with North Korea, which China - Pyongyang's main ally - and others have been pushing for.

 

"I don't see how this helps, and it might just be an important miscalculation," said Robert Gallucci, the chief U.S. negotiator during the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis.

 

In February, plans for talks in the United States between former U.S. officials and North Korea were scrapped when the State Department denied a visa for a top envoy from Pyongyang after the murder of Kim's half brother, Kim Jong Nam, in Malaysia.

 

North Korea was put on the U.S. terrorism sponsor list for the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air flight that killed all 115 people aboard. But the administration of former President George W. Bush, a Republican, removed Pyongyang in 2008 in exchange for progress in denuclearisation talks.

 

Some members of Congress had been pushing for years for North Korea to be put back on the list, but others questioned whether the reclusive regime met the criteria of actively sponsoring international terrorism.

 

U.S. Representative Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, called the decision "an important step in our efforts to apply maximum diplomatic and financial pressure on Kim Jong Un."

 

Democratic Senator Edward Markey said the designation "ratchets up the rhetoric" but does nothing to hold North Korea accountable for its weapons program.

 

The designation could prove counterproductive, said Harry Kazianis, director of defence studies at the conservative Center for the National Interest.

 

"Sadly, this action by the Trump administration just further cements a dangerous game of escalatory brinkmanship where neither side is giving the other any off-ramp," he said.

 

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by John Walcott, Patricia Zengerle, Eric Walsh, Arshad Mohammed and Matt Spetalnick; Writing by Doina Chiacu and Jeff Mason; Editing by Kieran Murray and James Dalgleish)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-21

[observer90210]

Well.. sanctions, right!?....but the sanctions soap opera against N. Korea has been playing since 2006 !!...anyhow...a smart way to cool things down instead of pushing "the" button !!

[Boon Mee]

Sanctions?  

Hope they do some good this time or Rocket Man will get feisty again.  

[coulson]

War of attrition. There could never be talks between these two fools at this rate.

 

 

[Scott]

I believe that someone in another thread about NK posted a link that may explain part of the reason KJU is not testing missiles.   Apparently, it is harvest season NK and much of the emphasis is on getting crops harvested in a country that is known to have a real problem with food security.  

 

Historically, at this time of the year, the military action and rhetoric calms down.  

[Catoni]

2 hours ago, coulson said:

War of attrition. There could never be talks between these two fools at this rate.

 

 

     Your leftist/socialist Trump Derangement Syndrome attempt at moral equivalency between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un does not impress.  

[coulson]

5 minutes ago, Catoni said:

     Your leftist/socialist Trump Derangement Syndrome attempt at moral equivalency between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un does not impress.  

Moral equivalency? They are like brothers from another mother. The horrible rhetoric/ propaganda from both of them eager to blow each others Country off the face of the earth has what moral basis?

 

Childish personal attacks on weight, age and size amongst political leaders on the brink of nuclear war.

 

Schoolyard stuff.

[Catoni]

2 hours ago, Scott said:

I believe that someone in another thread about NK posted a link that may explain part of the reason KJU is not testing missiles.   Apparently, it is harvest season NK and much of the emphasis is on getting crops harvested in a country that is known to have a real problem with food security.  

 

Historically, at this time of the year, the military action and rhetoric calms down.  

  "...food security" ? ?      There is a whole list of reasons for famine and people dying of hunger in North Korea...  ..... the main problem being the Stalinist type Communist system run by the Kim regime. Remember the Soviet/Ukraine Famine in 1932 - '33 that killed 2 - 3 million ? ? 

           In North Korea's case, this results in food distributed to people according to their political standing and their degree of loyalty to the state and "Dear Leader, Great General" Kim Jong-un . Another is  North Korea's "Military First" policy, which prioritizes the Korean "People's" Army in affairs of state and allocates national resources to the "army first".   A lot of it can be blamed on the communistic forced collectivization of agriculture.... just as happened in the Soviet Union and Ukraine. 

[Tchooptip]

"The United States has designated only three other countries - Iran, Sudan and Syria - as state sponsors of terrorism."

Absolutely Saudi Arabia was always above suspicion!

 

 

[Catoni]

32 minutes ago, coulson said:

Moral equivalency? They are like brothers from another mother. The horrible rhetoric/ propaganda from both of them eager to blow each others Country off the face of the earth has what moral basis?

 

Childish personal attacks on weight, age and size amongst political leaders on the brink of nuclear war.

 

Schoolyard stuff.

     Hmmm....  Trump never threatened attack on North Korea until Kim kept testing his nukes underground and started firing missiles over Japan, breaking all the U.N resolutions with impunity, and started waving his arms yelling about blowing Washington D.C. off the map and even making a propanda film showing Washington D.C. having a nuclear blast going off in the city...  and theatening Guam with destruction. 

    If you lived on my street and had weapons and you murdered members of your own family and threated to blow my house apart.... I would strengthen my defences and threaten you in return.  

        What would you want me to do... cower and back down in face of your threats ? ?   Yes.. that is exactly what you would want me to do. But I wouldn't...

   Trump understands... as U.S. President Ronald Reagan did, and British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did also, (and as you clearly don't)... that you must show strength in front of these murderous dictators...

    Was British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain an ancestor of yours by any chance ?    

Edited November 21, 2017 by Catoni
Correction

[amvet]

29 minutes ago, coulson said:

Moral equivalency? They are like brothers from another mother. The horrible rhetoric/ propaganda from both of them eager to blow each others Country off the face of the earth has what moral basis?

 

Childish personal attacks on weight, age and size amongst political leaders on the brink of nuclear war.

 

Schoolyard stuff.

Ya.  I agree with you.  He even called Democrats a basket of Deplorables. 

[blazes]

20 minutes ago, Tchooptip said:

"The United States has designated only three other countries - Iran, Sudan and Syria - as state sponsors of terrorism."

Absolutely Saudi Arabia was always above suspicion!

 

 

 

Yes, exactly.  This point needs emphasizing bigly (as Dear Leader Donald might say).

[Scott]

Off-topic post and reply removed.  

[coulson]

1 hour ago, Catoni said:

     Hmmm....  Trump never threatened attack on North Korea until Kim kept testing his nukes underground and started firing missiles over Japan, breaking all the U.N resolutions with impunity, and started waving his arms yelling about blowing Washington D.C. off the map and even making a propanda film showing Washington D.C. having a nuclear blast going off in the city...  and theatening Guam with destruction. 

    If you lived on my street and had weapons and you murdered members of your own family and threated to blow my house apart.... I would strengthen my defences and threaten you in return.  

        What would you want me to do... cower and back down in face of your threats ? ?   Yes.. that is exactly what you would want me to do. But I wouldn't...

   Trump understands... as U.S. President Ronald Reagan did, and British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did also, (and as you clearly don't)... that you must show strength in front of these murderous dictators...

    Was British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain an ancestor of yours by any chance ?    

And Trump responded with equally childish rhetoric adding to the tension.

 

I'm not even going to touch your gunslinger analogy, or your wild assertion about my background.

 

I will take a wild guess that you're from either Indiana, Atlanta or Michigan.....just for fun (works both ways).

 

 

[baboon]

1 hour ago, Catoni said:

  "...food security" ? ?      There is a whole list of reasons for famine and people dying of hunger in North Korea...  ..... the main problem being the Stalinist type Communist system run by the Kim regime. Remember the Soviet/Ukraine Famine in 1932 - '33 that killed 2 - 3 million ? ? 

           In North Korea's case, this results in food distributed to people according to their political standing and their degree of loyalty to the state and "Dear Leader, Great General" Kim Jong-un . Another is  North Korea's "Military First" policy, which prioritizes the Korean "People's" Army in affairs of state and allocates national resources to the "army first".   A lot of it can be blamed on the communistic forced collectivization of agriculture.... just as happened in the Soviet Union and Ukraine. 

You are way behind the times. The economy and food situation is improving.

[boomerangutang]

5 hours ago, Scott said:

I believe that someone in another thread about NK posted a link that may explain part of the reason KJU is not testing missiles.   Apparently, it is harvest season NK and much of the emphasis is on getting crops harvested in a country that is known to have a real problem with food security.  

Historically, at this time of the year, the military action and rhetoric calms down.  

Plus, they like to launch missiles on one or more of their Dear Leaders' b'days.  It must not be birthday time for 'President For Ever' or his son and grandson.

[boomerangutang]

2 hours ago, Catoni said:

     Hmmm....  Trump never threatened attack on North Korea until Kim kept testing his nukes underground and started firing missiles over Japan, breaking all the U.N resolutions with impunity, and started waving his arms yelling about blowing Washington D.C. off the map and even making a propanda film showing Washington D.C. having a nuclear blast going off in the city...  and theatening Guam with destruction. 

    If you lived on my street and had weapons and you murdered members of your own family and threated to blow my house apart.... I would strengthen my defences and threaten you in return.  

        What would you want me to do... cower and back down in face of your threats ? ?   Yes.. that is exactly what you would want me to do. But I wouldn't...

   Trump understands... as U.S. President Ronald Reagan did, and British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did also, (and as you clearly don't)... that you must show strength in front of these murderous dictators...

    Was British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain an ancestor of yours by any chance ?    

You're responding to someone else, but here goes.   Using your analogy, if the problem person resided on the other side of the world's biggest ocean, I wouldn't be as worried, ...than if it the threats were coming out of Tijuana.   Kim and his dad/granddad have done lots of harm over the decades, but the harm has been in their own country.  Lamentable, yes, but not reason to activate the most powerful arsenal the world has ever known - to kill millions of innocents.   War is also hell for other species, plants and animals.  and toxifies the environment for generations.  I'm in a minority, but view humans as one of millions of species.  To me, these issues are not all human-centric.
 

2 hours ago, coulson said:

Moral equivalency? They are like brothers from another mother. The horrible rhetoric/ propaganda from both of them eager to blow each others Country off the face of the earth has what moral basis?  Childish personal attacks on weight, age and size amongst political leaders on the brink of nuclear war. Schoolyard stuff.

'schoolyard stuff' perhaps, but even a school kid can press red buttons.  I thought the US had 77 nukes ready to launch.  Then I hear, yesterday, that the number is closer to 3,000.

[Srikcir]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

"I don't see how this helps, and it might just be an important miscalculation," said Robert Gallucci,

It doesn't other than give Trump political window dressing that he's doing something. Similar actions to past presidents.

Tillerson just called this action as "symbolic."

It's a boon to Trump's base.

Edited November 21, 2017 by Srikcir
update from Tillerson

[Catoni]

2 hours ago, coulson said:

And Trump responded with equally childish rhetoric adding to the tension.

 

I'm not even going to touch your gunslinger analogy, or your wild assertion about my background.

 

I will take a wild guess that you're from either Indiana, Atlanta or Michigan.....just for fun (works both ways).

 

 

  So let me ask you this....  Okay....  a pretend, imaginary scenerio.... fiction....  If I lived down your street.....  murdered some members of my own family, was collecting more weapons.. and threatening to attack you and burn down your house as you and your family slept....you would do nothing... ignore me... and go about your everyday routine.....pretend there was nothing to worry about ? ?    Really ? ?    That seems to be what you are implying... and also what you wish Donald Trump to do when it comes to North Korea.     You seem to have a secret admiration for "Dear Leader" "Great General" Kim Jong-un. 

 

   How many years now have you been a Marxist-Leninist ?    Just curious... 

 

Are you able to intelligently refute my statements?  Or is ad hominem all you have ?  

[Catoni]

1 hour ago, boomerangutang said:

You're responding to someone else, but here goes.   Using your analogy, if the problem person resided on the other side of the world's biggest ocean, I wouldn't be as worried, ...than if it the threats were coming out of Tijuana.   Kim and his dad/granddad have done lots of harm over the decades, but the harm has been in their own country.  Lamentable, yes, but not reason to activate the most powerful arsenal the world has ever known - to kill millions of innocents.   War is also hell for other species, plants and animals.  and toxifies the environment for generations.  I'm in a minority, but view humans as one of millions of species.  To me, these issues are not all human-centric.
 

'schoolyard stuff' perhaps, but even a school kid can press red buttons.  I thought the US had 77 nukes ready to launch.  Then I hear, yesterday, that the number is closer to 3,000.

  Please allow me to repeat... :     Trump never threatened attack on North Korea until Kim kept testing his nukes underground and started firing missiles over Japan, breaking all the U.N resolutions with impunity, and started waving his arms yelling about blowing Washington D.C. off the map and even making a propanda film showing Washington D.C. having a nuclear blast going off in the city...  and theatening Guam with destruction. 

       Is it peferable to ignore such things ?   

       At least twenty years of negotiations... and U.N. resolutions and rules continue to be ignored by the North Korea Regime.  They laugh at the U.S........ Make films about nuking the U.S.  and they laugh and ignore U.N. resolutions....

 

    Tell us please.... How would you handle the situation  ? ?        Perhaps if we let them invade South Korea....  Yeah... that might work.  (Communists and other Kim admirers would be happy.)

[Catoni]

2 hours ago, baboon said:

You are way behind the times. The economy and food situation is improving.

  Only in Pyongyang... where the favored are allowed to live....      

[coulson]

51 minutes ago, Catoni said:

you would do nothing... ignore me... and go about your everyday routine.....pretend there was nothing to worry about ? ?

No

 

52 minutes ago, Catoni said:

How many years now have you been a Marxist-Leninist ?  

0

 

52 minutes ago, Catoni said:

Are you able to intelligently refute my statements?

Didn't refute your statement. I said clearly the response was as childish as the threat. It held no substance and only further antagonized the situation.

 

56 minutes ago, Catoni said:

Or is ad hominem all you have ?

No.

[baboon]

1 hour ago, Catoni said:

  Only in Pyongyang... where the favored are allowed to live....      

No, the entire country. 

[connda]

What. There weren't sanctions before.  Personal observation: Within the next 2 decades, if the US doesn't trigger a nuclear holocaust in the meantime, US sanctions will become irrelevant, probably about the time that the US dollar is no longer used as the reserve currency or 'petro-dollar' - a day which is fast approaching - well, unless the entire world becomes irradiated.  I don't rule that out for a minute.  

[Catoni]

4 hours ago, coulson said:

No

 

0

 

Didn't refute your statement. I said clearly the response was as childish as the threat. It held no substance and only further antagonized the situation.

 

No.

 Tell us.... what would your brilliant response be to Kim Jong-un's actions, threats of nuclear destruction towards Seoul, South Korea, Guam, and the U.S and Japan, and ongoing violations of U.N. resolutions following 20 years of going-nowhere negotiations ? ?  

      You must have some great fantastic idea better that Obama's and Trumps and the U.N.    ...right ?   Something that would solve this problem with a rogue one party communist Stalinist type dictatorship run by a psycho who murders members of his own family with impunity.  Why keep your solution to the problem secret ? ? 

Edited November 21, 2017 by Catoni
correction

[Catoni]

2 hours ago, connda said:

What. There weren't sanctions before.  Personal observation: Within the next 2 decades, if the US doesn't trigger a nuclear holocaust in the meantime, US sanctions will become irrelevant, probably about the time that the US dollar is no longer used as the reserve currency or 'petro-dollar' - a day which is fast approaching - well, unless the entire world becomes irradiated.  I don't rule that out for a minute.  

      Thank you for your blinding words of high wisdom....  comrade !  So you believe it is the U.S. that is the theat to the world...   Yet another leftist not worried or concerned about North Korea or Iran having or getting nukes, and showing his hatred and fear of the U.S. and western civilization and multi-party free election democracies.     

Edited November 21, 2017 by Catoni
addition

[coulson]

24 minutes ago, Catoni said:

 Tell us.... what would your brilliant response be to Kim Jong-un's actions, threats of nuclear destruction towards Seoul, South Korea, Guam, and the U.S and Japan, and ongoing violations of U.N. resolutions following 20 years of going-nowhere negotiations ? ?  

      You must have some great fantastic idea better that Obama's and Trumps and the U.N.    ...right ?   Something that would solve this problem with a rogue one party communist Stalinist type dictatorship run by a psycho who murders members of his own family with impunity.  Why keep your solution to the problem secret ? ? 

Whatever it would be, it would not involve posting empty provocative trashtalk on social media, in monosyllables.

 

Chill out for heavens sake

[Catoni]

6 hours ago, coulson said:

Whatever it would be, it would not involve posting empty provocative trashtalk on social media, in monosyllables.

 

Chill out for heavens sake

     So you have nothing better than has already been tried by the United Nations and its Security Council, the U.S., Japan, China, Russia and South Korea for the past twenty years...  But you jump at the chance to criticize them, (especially the U.S. and President Trump you love to target),   and give a pass to North Korea and the Great General, Dear Leader, Comrade Kim Jong-un.

     And when you have nothing left, you start in with ad hominem attacks on me. My posts were not empty provacative trashtalk posts.  They were factual, and asked  legitimate questions.  Your failure to rebut intelligently and offer common sense answers is not my fault.  I sincerely apologise if your feelings were hurt. That was certainly not my intention. 

Edited November 21, 2017 by Catoni

[carbine1125]

18 hours ago, Tchooptip said:

"The United States has designated only three other countries - Iran, Sudan and Syria - as state sponsors of terrorism."

Absolutely Saudi Arabia was always above suspicion!

 

 

Well said and also maybe they should be looking under their own bed too.

[coulson]

4 hours ago, Catoni said:

And when you have nothing left, you start in with ad hominem attacks on me. My posts were not empty provacative trashtalk posts.  They were factual, and asked  legitimate questions.  Your failure to rebut intelligently and offer common sense answers is not my fault.  I sincerely apologise if your feelings were hurt. That was certainly not my intention

I never insulted your posts, I am referring to Trump.

 

I only made jest at your whereabouts in response to your wild assertion of my desecndency.

 

My feelings are not hurt.

 

This is getting ad nauseam.

 

I will refer you to my original post.

 

*This is a war of attrition and these two fools will never resolve it at this stage.*

 

Take it or leave it.