Amid new sanctions, Trump calls North Korea’s leader ‘madman’ whose regime will face new tests

President Trump lashed back Friday at North Korea's leader, calling Kim Jong Un a “madman” whose regime will be “tested like never before” amid new U.S.-imposed financial sanctions.
The latest economic pressures announced Thursday come as the Trump administration seeks to build international support for more aggressively confronting the rogue nation, whose escalating nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities have reached what U.S. officials consider a crisis point.

The new penalties seek to leverage the dominance of the U.S. financial system by forcing nations, foreign companies and individuals to choose whether to do business with the United States or the comparatively tiny economy of North Korea. U.S. officials acknowledged that like other sanctions, these may not deter North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s drive to threaten the United States with a nuclear weapon, but are aimed at slowing him down.

Kim on Thursday reacted angrily to Trump's remarks and actions this week, calling the president a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” and Trump's earlier speech at the U.N. “unprecedented rude nonsense.” Kim said he was now thinking hard about how to respond.
“I will make the man holding the prerogative of the supreme command in the U.S. pay dearly for his speech,” Kim said in a statement released by the official Korean Central News Agency, which also published a photo of the North Korean leader sitting at his desk holding a piece of paper.

“I am now thinking hard about what response he could have expected when he allowed such eccentric words to trip off his tongue. Whatever Trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectation,” Kim said, adding that he would “tame” Trump “with fire.”

In his latest tweeted barb Friday, Trump called Kim a “madman” who brings famine and death on North Koreans.
“Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!” Trump wrote.

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday night that the North’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, said in New York that his country may test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean to fulfill Kim’s vow to take the “highest-level” action against the United States. “It could be the most powerful detonation of an H-bomb in the Pacific,” Ri said. “We have no idea about what actions could be taken as it will be ordered by leader Kim Jong Un.” U.S. officials believe the North carried out its first hydrogen bomb test underground on Sept. 3.

Trump's executive order grants the Treasury Department additional authority that Trump said would help cut off international trade and financing that Kim's dictatorship uses to support its banned weapons programs.
“North Korea’s nuclear program is a grave threat to peace and security in our world, and it is unacceptable that others financially support this criminal, rogue regime,” Trump said in brief public remarks during a meeting with the leaders of South Korea and Japan to discuss strategy to confront Pyongyang.

He added that the United States continues to seek a “complete denuclearization of North Korea.”
Significantly, Trump also said that Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered Chinese banks to cease conducting business with North Korean entities. Trump praised Xi, calling the move “very bold” and “somewhat unexpected.”

China is North Korea's chief ally and economic lifeline. Some 90 percent of North Korean economic activity involves China, and Chinese entities are the main avenue for North Korea's very limited financial transactions in the global economy. China is also suspected of turning a blind eye to some of the smuggling and sanctions-busting operations that have allowed Pyongyang to rapidly develop sophisticated long-range missiles despite international prohibitions on parts and technology.

All U.N. sanctions have to be acceptable to China, which holds veto power in the U.N. Security Council. China's recent willingness to punish its fellow communist state signals strong disapproval of North Korea's international provocations, but China and fellow Security Council member Russia have also opposed some of the toughest economic measures that could be applied, such as banking restrictions that would affect Chinese and other financial institutions.
“We continue to call on all responsible nations to enforce and implement sanctions,” Trump said.

Trump has sought to rally international support for confronting Pyongyang during four days of meetings here at the U.N. General Assembly. In a speech to the world body Tuesday, Trump threatened to “totally destroy” the North if necessary and referred derisively to Kim as “Rocket Man.” But the president and his aides have emphasized that they are continuing to do what they can to put economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to avoid a military conflict.

“We don’t want war,” U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told reporters. “At the same time, we're not going to run scared. If for any reason North Korea attacks the United States or our allies, we're going to respond.”

Source:  David Nakamura and Anne Gearan By David Nakamura and Anne Gearan, Post Politics, September 22