President Donald Trump voiced his frustration at the lack of progress diplomatic talks and economic sanctions have had on the Kim Jong-Un regime in North Korea with regard to the Asian…<\/b>
\nPresident Donald Trump voiced his frustration at the the lack of progress diplomatic talks and economic sanctions have had on the Kim Jong-Un regime in North Korea with regard to the Asian nation\u2019s nuclear program and continuing ballistic missile tests. Speaking alongside South Korea President Moon Jae-in, Trump declared that US \u201cpatience is over\u201d and urged the international community to confront North Korea with a \u201cdetermined response.\u201d
In welcoming South Korea\u2019s president, Moon Jae-in, to the White House, President Donald Trump, according to The Guardian, doubled down on his labeling of Kim Jong-Un\u2019s government a \u201cbrutal regime, \u201d the same charge he made subsequent to the death of University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier, who died within days of being returned to the United States in a vegetative state, a state acquired, according to allegations, by his treatment while a prisoner of North Korea for over a year.
\u201cTogether, we are facing the threat of the reckless and brutal regime in North Korea. The nuclear and ballistic missile programs of that regime require a determined response, \u201d Trump said.
\u201cThe North Korean dictatorship has no regard for the safety and security of its people, for its neighbors and has no respect for human life, \u201d he added.
Trump seemed to be venting his frustrations at the concerted effort by the international community to place stricter economic sanctions on North Korea for their failure to end its pursuit of an expanded nuclear weapons program. The sanctions, United Nations reprimands and Security Council resolutions, and increased US military presence (including three aircraft carrier strike groups off the Korean Peninsula) have had no effect other than to prompt North Korea\u2019s state-run media to continue a barrage of threatening and bellicose rhetoric it has directed toward Donald Trump and his administration that has been ongoing since before his inauguration in January. Just after Trump called North Korea a \u201cbrutal regime\u201d for its imprisonment and alleged treatment of Warmbier, North Korea fired back, calling Trump a \u201cpsychopath\u201d and likening him to Adolf Hitler, his polices akin to \u201cNazism in the 21st century.\u201d
President Trump also took a verbal swipe at the preceding administrations\u2019 dealings with North Korea.
\u201cThe era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed, many years it has failed. Frankly, that patience is over.\u201d
Although he eschewed diplomatic talks with North Korea, Trump insisted that the international community unite in sanctioning the Kim Jong-Un regime.\u201dThe United States calls on other regional powers and all responsible nations to join us in implementing sanctions and demanding that the North Korean regime choose a better path and do it quickly and a different future for its long suffering people, \u201d President Trump said.
His South Korean counterpart stated that his government was in agreement with the United States on the nuclear and missile threat posed by North Korea. However, President Moon was more open to keeping diplomatic channels open between Seoul and Pyongyang.
\u201cPresident Trump and I decided to place a top priority on addressing this issue, \u201d he said at the White House, \u201cand coordinate closely on relevant policies. To this end, we will employ both sanctions and dialogue in a phased and comprehensive approach\u2026 to seek a fundamental resolution of the North Korean nuclear problem.\u201d
An indication of the Trump administration\u2019s growing frustration with North Korea came in several moves directed at the rogue nation via China. China, North Korea\u2019s strongest ally, has attempted to reach out to Pyongyang to get concessions and\/or compliance with regard to halting its nuclear program \u2014 with little success. And although Trump himself tweeted that China had at least tried to talk with North Korea, the signals sent to China this week were aimed at those with ties to North Korea.
CNN reported that the Treasury Department on Thursday imposed new sanctions on a Chinese bank and several Chinese nationals .
\u201cWe are in no way targeting China with these actions, \u201d Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters, according to The Hill . \u201cThis is about North Korea and how serious we are taking this.\u201d
Another sign that the Trump administration is becoming impatient for a change in North Korea\u2019s nuclear program stance is the report that military officials have presented President Trump with an updated set of options to deal with North Korea.
\u201cThe threat is much more immediate now, \u201d National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster told reporters prior to President Moon Jae-in\u2019s visit, CNN reported. \u201cWe can\u2019 t repeat the same failed approach of the past. The President has directed us to not do that and to prepare a range of options, including a military option, which nobody wants to take.\u201d
North Korea has yet to respond to the new round of statements and developments.
[Featured Image by Susan Walsh\/AP Images]<\/p>\n