President Trump calls for new UN sanctions

on North Korea
Tareq Haddad
International Business Times25 April 2017

US President Donald Trump has called for renewed sanctions on North Korea amid escalating
tensions between the two countries.
North Korea has tested a number of ballistic missiles in recent weeks and could reportedly fire its
latest test as soon as Tuesday (25 April).

In response to the confrontations, the US Navy has ordered the USS Carl Vinson to the Korean
peninsula, but the move triggered an angry response from the rogue state, which promised to sink the
aircraft carrier.

Addressing 15 Security Council ambassadors to the United Nations, including those of Russia and
China, at a meeting in the White House on Monday (24 April), Trump said immediate action must be
taken to stop Pyongyang's provocations.

"The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable," Trump said, reported Reuters.

"The [security] council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North
Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

US officials told Reuters that tougher sanctions could include an oil embargo, banning North Korea's
airline and punishing foreign banks that continue to trade with the country.

"This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not," Trump added.

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Trump North Korea UN ambassadors
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"North Korea is a big world problem and it's a problem that we have to finally solve.

"People put blindfolds on for decades and now it's time to solve the problem."

Trump's comments come as he summoned the entire US Senate to the White House for a briefing on
North Korea on Wednesday (26 April).

It is not uncommon for US government officials to address members of the legislature on foreign
policy and national security matters, but it is unusual for all 100 Senators to be invited.

Trump also discussed North Korea in phone calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who urged the president to show "restraint" in handling North Korea's
Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.
ANALYSIS
The most plausible explanation for this is that North Korea blinked. Although it is possible
the extensive preparations around its nuclear test site were intended only to wind up the international
community, it seems more likely that the North Koreans did indeed plan a nuclear test Saturday but
desisted, probably because they assessed the risks of serious retaliation were too great.
The US carrier group it thought was near Korea and China's threat on April 12 to support UN
sanctions, including cutting off North Korea's oil supply, which would have quickly brought its
fragile economy to a halt probably weighed heavily on Pyongyang as well.
Perhaps the North Koreans calculated (rightly, it seems) that either a nuclear test or a test of
an intercontinental ballistic missile a long-range missile of the kind they would need to carry a
nuclear warhead to the continental United States was too dangerous. Instead, launching a medium-
range missile would allow them to deny they were buckling under foreign pressure while not
triggering a vigorous international reaction. The fact it failed doubtless also softened responses.
If this analysis is right, then the United States has, for now at least, succeeded in its long-term
goal of halting the development of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles.
To perfect these weapons, North Korea needs to test them, and if it dares not do so for fear of
the consequences, then its program is effectively frozen. The deputy foreign minister's assertion that
North Korea will continue testing missiles "on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis" should be taken
with large pinches of salt. Further launches of medium-range missiles such as that on Sunday will not
greatly help North Korea to develop an effective ICBM.
While the rest of the world sits by, twiddling its collective thumbs and hoping that Kim
comes to his senses, Trump has laid down a marker: test an underground nuclear device as you are
threatening to do, and there will be consequences. The presence of a U.S. Navy strike force, armed
with Tomahawk Cruise missiles, is the unspoken backup to Trumps clear message.
Trump has raised the stakes in this showdown, unlike Barack Obama, who tried to give Kim
toothless avuncular advice, or Bill Clinton, who was hornswoggled into a bad nuclear arms deal with
Kims father, in 1994. Clinton promised then that the pact would bring North Korea into the
community of civilized nations. Right. Guess it all depends on what your definition of is, is.
 Chinas role in this showdown is crucial. It is now North Koreas only patron, keeping its
economy barely afloat and protecting it from United Nations sanctions and condemnations. So far,
there have been at least 15 meaningless finger-wags from the House of Humor on the East River in
Manhattan.