The Trump administration should apply stiffer economic sanctions and “smart” diplomacy to curb North Korea’s nuclear-missile program amid rising tensions between Pyongyang and Washington, experts say.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration should apply stiffer economic sanctions and “smart” diplomacy to curb North Korea’s nuclear-missile program amid rising tensions between Pyongyang and Washington, experts say.
North Korea on Friday launched another missile, according to the Pentagon, in the latest development showing the threat from that country.
None of the sanctions imposed on North Korea — long the most sanctioned country in the world — have been tough enough, said Edward Fishman, research fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center. He and other experts spoke Thursday at the Center for a New American Security.
Fishman said the United States should capitalize on North Korea’s huge dependence on foreign trade to threaten to blacklist foreign companies that transact with the country.
The U. S has been accelerating its actions to rein in North Korea’s missile threats. The House of Representatives Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill that authorizes measures against shipments of crude oil to Pyongyang as well as against North Korean forced labor overseas and online gambling as part of a larger package also targeting Iran and Russia.
“The benefit of having Congress involved is to impose mandatory sanctions, because when sanctions are mandatory, they really make a threat that would be imposed much more credible, ” Fishman said.
