01 July, 2017
The threats from the North come as Moon leaves South Korea to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time since both took office.
"The critical question is which President Moon will come to D.C.", said Anthony Ruggiero, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank in Washington, who advised USA diplomats on multinational talks with North Korea prior to the collapse of the negotiations in 2009.
North Korea's state-run news agency then responded to the meeting, calling South Korea a "puppet".
The Bank of Dandong will no longer be able to access the USA financial system "either directly or indirectly" and called the action "very significant", Mnuchin said. Trump took oath in January while Moon was elected only last month after mid-term polls necessitated by the impeachment of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
Two U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups have been deployed near the Korean Peninsula since tensions with North Korea increased.
After Thursday's dinner, Trump tweeted that he had a "very good meeting" with Moon and that "many subjects (were) discussed including North Korea and new trade deal!" South Korea had trade surplus of $17 billion with the US past year when including both goods and services. South Korea only imported $1.6 billion in USA autos while it exported $16.1 billion in autos to the US that year. Frankly, that patience is over, ' Trump said while standing alongside Moon in the White House Rose Garden. Moon and Trump were to hold a joint press briefing once the meetings are over.
"The threat and provocations by the North will be met with a stern response", he said.
The missile-defense system, called Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad, is strongly opposed by China, which is believed to have retaliated against South Korea with economic sanctions and cyberattacks.
A senior USA administration official stressed ahead of the Trump-Moon talks that Washington and Seoul "share precisely the same goal, which is the complete dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear and missile programs". Announcing the new measures, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the Bank of Dandong has served as a gateway for the regime to access the US and global financial systems. The new sanctions came after the death of Otto Warmbier, a USA college student detained and imprisoned in North Korea, earlier this month.
"The question going forward is whether it will spur Beijing to do more to enforce the sanctions or cause Beijing to reduce cooperation on North Korea", Wilder added.
