Trump Announces New Expanded Economic Sanctions on North Korea

Earlier today, President Donald Trump released his latest executive order and, according to The Washington Post, it will allow the Treasury Department to enforce economic sanctions on North Korea and anyone who does business with what he calls the “rogue regime.”

If you’re completely lost (we don’t blame you), check out this quick overview on everything that’s gone down since January. It's a lot.

Trump’s promise to “totally destroy” North Korea in his speech at the UN General Assembly earlier this week, Vox reports, was viewed as “counterproductive” and potentially “dangerous” by researchers. In his speech, he said: “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”

According to the BBC, North Korea's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, said Mr Trump's comments were like "the sound of a barking dog." Implying that there might not be much bite behind them. 

However, this threat of economic destruction can be considered a threat of total destruction, according to experts. For starters, President Trump and his administration has support in China. Chinese President Xi Jinping has directed Chinese banks to stop conducting business with North Korea as well. Particularly, as Reuters noted, the Trump administration "blacklisted" 16 companies from China, Russia and Signapore for trading with coal, oil and metal entities in North Korea. 

Pyongyang’s nuclear program has been advanced through its usage of international finances, reports NPR. Shutting down their money supply is reportedly one way to control and isolate the North Korean regime.

As today is the International Day of Peace, as proposed by the UN. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next — and, of course, wait for Pyongyang’s response.