The Trump administration slapped sanctions Tuesday on eight North Korean banks and 26 of their bank workers living abroad, part of the continuing response to Pyongyang’s illicit nuclear weapons and missile programs.
President Trump said at a news conference that the sanctions will further “isolate the North Korean menace.”
The Treasury Department announced it was freezing the assets in U.S. jurisdiction of the entities and individuals with ties to North Korea’s financial networks.
“We are targeting North Korean banks and financial facilitators acting as representatives for North Korean banks across the globe,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “This further advances our strategy to fully isolate North Korea in order to achieve our broader objectives of a peaceful and denuclearized Korean peninsula. This action is also consistent with U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
The action comes a day after North Korea’s foreign minister accused President Trump having declared war on Pyongyang, a claim that the White House dismissed as “absurd.” But White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said the U.S. “cannot completely discount that possibility” of military action.
North Korea conducted a nuclear test on Sept. 3 and has launched dozens of missile tests since January, in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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