The Trump administration is reportedly preparing new economic sanctions on North Korea.
The sanctions, U.S. officials told Reuters, could include a potential oil embargo, intercepting cargo ships headed to North Korea or a ban on the country’s airline, Air Koryo. Trump has already approved a broad, preliminary approach to the situation, and his national security team is putting together a more detailed plan.
The possible fresh sanctions come amid high tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. Over the weekend, the U.S. moved a Navy strike group into the west Pacific near the Korean Peninsula in a move designed to put pressure on the North over its advancing weapons program.
{mosads}North Korea, in turn, has deemed the naval movement an act of aggression and has threatened a nuclear strike on the U.S. if provoked. Compounding the situation are increasing concerns that the country’s latest nuclear or missile test could come any day.
“There’s a whole host of things that are possible, all the way up to what’s essentially a trade quarantine on North Korea,” one official told Reuters.
The officials said that the Trump administration is keeping military options on the table, but indicated that the White House was focused first on diplomatic and economic solutions.
So far, no new sanctions have been finalized.