The Latest - North Korea
China’s attempted power play hands leverage to Trump on North Korea
Does China get too much credit for its leverage over North Korea? Even after Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Kim Jong Un for a surprise summit in Beijing last month, FDD Research Analyst Mathew Ha argues that this move actually ceded leverage to the United States, who just sent a high-level official to Pyongyang to “lay the groundwork” for the upcoming U.S.-North Korea summit. more...
Assad’s Horror, and Those Who Enable It
Horrific images from the aftermath of a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria are once again circulating online. The scene of this gassing is the eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus. Both the location and the timing of this apparent war crime are symbolically important. And while the immediate focus will be on Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and his willingness to gas his own people, any long-term solution will require understanding the role of the rogue states that enable and support him. more...
Newsmax Now
FDD's Mathew Ha joins Newsmax Now to discuss the upcoming meeting between North and South Korea. more...
Kim Jong Un Visits China, Comments on Denuclearization
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a surprise visit to Beijing this week, marking Kim’s first trip outside North Korea since taking power in 2011. The trip is part of Kim’s effort to project strength before his meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae next month and President Trump in May. Kim stated he is willing to consider denuclearization under several conditions; the question is whether those conditions will be palatable to the Trump administration. more...
US-North Korea summit: How Trump can score a major deal
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Wednesday that “we feel like things are moving in the right direction” heading into a planned summit between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in May. If the meeting takes place, it will confront the U.S. president with the consummate test of his skills as a dealmaker, since no one has played American negotiators for fools more consistently than the North Koreans. more...
United Nations Report Highlights North Korea Sanctions Violations
Last week, the UN Panel of Experts released its latest report on sanctions violations by North Korea and its enablers. The contents of the report indicate that the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign is working, yet there remains much to be done to ensure that Western pressure on North Korea is truly at a maximum. more...
Washington “welcomes” inter-Korean Winter Olympics talks: State Department
Washington on Tuesday said it welcomes recent talks between North and South Korea regarding the DPRK’s participation at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics next month, though warned it would make sure the North’s attendance did not breach UN sanctions. more...
Is Trump making himself irrelevant on North Korea?
There was no shortage of major foreign policy crises to choose from in 2017, but the rapid escalation of tensions with North Korea — and the threat of nuclear war behind them — stood out from the rest. It's also one into which President Trump, an iconoclastic leader who disdains diplomacy and styles himself both a businessman and a brawler, has thrown himself with abandon. more...
Seized oil tanker linked to N. Korean networks, investigation reveals
The Panamanian-flagged KOTI vessel, which was seized off the west coast of South Korea in late December, is operated by a company linked to several known Chinese weapons smugglers, an investigation by NK News can reveal. more...
U.S. declares North Korea a terror sponsor; new sanctions anticipated
President Donald Trump announced Monday the U.S. is putting North Korea‘s “murderous regime” on America‘s terrorism blacklist, despite questions about Pyongyang‘s support for international attacks beyond the assassination of its leader‘s half brother in February. more...
Trump Hails New Era of Global Competition, Says ‘America is Going to Win’
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Monday the country's greatness is being challenged by rival powers, but promised the country would use "every instrument" at its disposal to ignite what he portrayed as an American awakening. more...
N.K. Sanctions haven’t been strong enough: U.S. expert
Sanctions against North Korea can be tightened further to induce the regime to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, a U.S. expert said Thursday. more...
Podcast: Countering Kim’s Nuclear North Korea
Cliff May is joined by FDD's North Korea expert, Anthony Ruggiero, to discuss whether North Korea's most recent missile test is a game-changer, whether a nuclear North Korea is a foregone conclusion, and how the U.S. can leverage economic warfare to counter the Kim regime's illicit activities more...
U.S. Accuses Chinese Banks, but Treads Lightly
The Trump administration is locked in a diplomatic quandary as it tries to pressure North Korea: How to sanction Pyongyang’s top ally and patron—China—without alienating an economic powerhouse that is arguably the best hope to slow its rogue nuclear-weapons program. more...
‘Major sanctions’ coming against North Korea
Trump didn't specify what country would impose additional sanctions. "Perhaps more restrictions can be placed on [North Korean] laborers [working in China] or they can be banned completely", he said. Newburgh Gazette http://newburghgazette.com/2017/12/01/major-sanctions-coming-against-north-korea/ more...
Sanctions unlikely to make North back down: Analysts
The United States has responded to North Korea's third test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, its most powerful yet, with a call for all nations to cut off diplomatic and trade ties with Pyongyang. more...
U.S. Calls for Oil Ban and Complete Diplomatic Isolation of North Korea
The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting Wednesday following North Korea’s third intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the thirteenth meeting of the Security Council this year. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called for the body to isolate Pyongyang and increase pressure on it, by banning the sale of oil to North Korea and severing all diplomatic ties. more...
As time runs out, analysts doubt harsher sanctions can stop Pyongyang
The United States has responded to North Korea's third test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, its most powerful yet, with a call for all nations to cut off diplomatic and trade ties with Pyongyang. more...
It’s time to ramp up the pressure on North Korea and China after latest missile test
North Korea’s third successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile Wednesday should prompt President Trump to quicken the pace of his policy of putting “maximum pressure” on the North to give up its nuclear weapons. more...
Fresh concern over possible Iran-North Korea nuclear links
A series of recent high-level meetings between Iranian and North Korean officials has prompted fresh concern in U.S. national security circles about the depth of military and ballistic missile technology cooperation between the two American adversaries, according to a Washington think tank. more...
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