While meeting with cabinet officials, President Donald Trump addressed the members of the press in attendance to make an announcement about North Korea. “Today the United States is designating North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism,” he said. “In addition to threatening the world by nuclear devastation, North Korea has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism, including assassinations on foreign soil.” After suggesting the country’s inclusion on the list “should have happened a long time ago,” Trump made several veiled and direct references to the deaths of Kim Jong-un’s brother and American Otto Warmbier.
“As we take this action today, our thought turn to Otto Warmbier, a wonderful young man, and the countless others so brutally affected by the North Korean oppression,” Trump continued. “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.” While explaining that his administration’s latest efforts against North Korea would result in “the highest level of sanctions,” however, Trump never fully explained why the country wasn’t included on the list to begin with.
Nor did he explicitly suggest it was President Obama’s fault, a statement that would have been largely false, according to the New York Times. During Kim Jong-il’s reign as North Korea’s leader, the country’s designation as a state sponsor of terror was crystal clear. Yet during President George W. Bush’s time in office, they were taken off the list “in an attempt to salvage negotiations for a nuclear deal.” As for Trump’s decision to re-designate the nation, the president told reporters the Treasury Department would issue new economic sanctions beyond those previously declared in August.
(Via New York Times)