President Trump wants to turn North Korea into an "economic rocket." The country's dismal human rights record might shoot down his hopes.
At their meeting in Vietnam later this week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may try to get Trump to lessen U.S. sanctions on his country in exchange for steps toward denuclearization. But those sanctions can't be lifted without congressional approval — and there's a very slim chance Trump will get it, Politico notes.
Beyond its constant threats of nuclear violence, North Korea also brings overwhelming reports of torture, starvation, and other human rights abuses to the bargaining table. Trump said he only mentioned those abuses "relatively briefly" in his meeting with Kim last June, and has kept denuclearization, not human rights, at the forefront of his North Korea talks since.
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Meanwhile, human rights violations took center stage for Congress, which in 2017 enacted a law preventing "imports of anything produced or manufactured by a North Korean citizen," Politico writes. Trump's tunnel vision on denuclearization may convince him to lift those sanctions at Kim's request, but only Congress has that power. In fact, Politico only thinks Congress will get on board if Trump demands human rights fixes from Kim. But unlike in the first year of his presidency, when he decried "depraved" leadership in North Korea, Trump has seemingly pushed that issue to the back of his mind. Read more at Politico.
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