The U.S. had peace talks with North Korea in hopes of its denuclearization and Kim Jong Un, the president of North Korea, has recently declared that he will shut down one of the country's missile testing sites, Tongchang-ri.
However, North Korea has different ideas about what denuclearization will look like than the United States. While the U.S. is willing to take back its sanctions in return for North Korea's complete denuclearization, Kim Jong Un said that North Korea will denuclearize if the U.S. will withdraw its troops in South Korea (as well as its sanctions). Additionally, to try to get around the sanctions, North Korea also is illegally trading with other countries (importing oil and fossil fuels). So, how much can we really trust North Korea?
The U.S. threatens to impose sanctions on any country that is fueling North Korea. '“The United States will not hesitate to impose sanctions on any individual, entity, or vessel supporting North Korea’s illicit activities, regardless of nationality,” Nauert said.' (Theguardian.com) They are particularly warning Russia, who has been trading with North Korea repeatedly throughout the year. There has been 148 known cases of ships going to North Korea and delivering fuel and Russia is a high suspect of sending those vessels. We must prevent this trade from happening or else North Korea will continue to manipulate us and not comply to denuclearization.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/23/us-wont-hesitate-to-impose-sanctions-if-north-korea-fuel-embargo-breached (posted on September 22, 2018)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45569924 (posted on September 19, 2018)
~ September 23, 2018