With President Donald Trump placing more sanctions on North Korea last week, two key Florida Republicans on Capitol Hill applauded the move.
On Thursday, with North Korea continuing to launch rockets as it seeks to advance its nuclear program, Trump announced a new executive order penalizing businesses working with that Asian nation’s regime , including freezing assets and removing them from the U.S. financial system. Trump also announced that some Chinese banks were no longer working with the North Korean regime.
Trump’s latest round of sanctions won the approval of U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., the vice chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee and the chairman of the U.S. House Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee.
“The Trump administration is taking another strong step in pressuring North Korea through United Nations backed sanctions,” Yoho said on Friday. “In August of this year, I urged the administration, in a letter, to take this necessary step in implementing secondary sanctions. Secondary sanctions are vital and necessary in keeping the Kim regime from furthering their nuclear weapons program.
“The announcement by the Chinese central bank to halt all business with North Korea is welcomed news for the Asia-Pacific region and the world community,” Yoho added. “China is beginning to agree that it is necessary to rein in Kim Jong Un’s regime. I welcome the announcement from the Chinese government.”
Trump’s latest action also won the approval of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who sits on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy Subcommittee.
“I commend President Trump for authorizing the Treasury Department to impose additional sanctions against governments, companies and individuals who do business with the brutal regime of Kim Jong Un,” Rubio said after the announcement. “North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs pose grave and gathering dangers to America’s homeland, to our allies South Korea and Japan, and to peace and security in the Asia-Pacific. The United States and other countries, including China, must do everything in our power to end the Kim regime's growing nuclear and missile threats and realize a fully denuclearized Korean peninsula.”
Looking ahead, Yoho said the U.S. and other nations have to get to work to ensure the sanctions will be successful.
"Now we face the real work in implementing these sanctions,” Yoho said. “We expect all nations to follow the lead of the U.S. and Chinese governments to maintain peace.”
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