Trump administration hits North Korea with new set of sanctions

The United States announced a new set of sanctions on North Korea on Friday. The sanctions are specifically aimed at 27 entities, 28 vessels, and one lone individual accused of shipping goods illegally to North Korea and helping further leader Kim Jong Un's nuclear weapons program. In a statement, the Treasury Department called the actions "the largest North Korea-related sanctions tranche to date." President Trump's administration has enacted various sets of sanctions against North Korea in ongoing efforts to curb their nuclear ambitions.

Those punished in this new round of sanctions will be prohibited from doing business with people in the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said: "This will significantly hinder the Kim regime's capacity to conduct evasive maritime activities that facilitate illicit coal and fuel transports, and erode its abilities to ship goods through international waters."

Trump was expected to detail the sanctions during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, but he only referenced them in passing, describing them as "the heaviest sanctions ever imposed on a country before."

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