PYONGYANG (dpa-AFX) - In an effort to further isolate the North Korean regime and advance the U.S. maximum pressure campaign, the Treasury Department imposed sweeping new sanctions on the reclusive communist nation on Friday.
The Treasury Department claimed the measures targeting one individual, 27 entities, and 28 vessels represent the largest North Korea-related sanctions tranche to date.
The sanctions are aimed at disrupting North Korean shipping and trading companies and vessels, the Treasury Department said.
'Treasury is aggressively targeting all illicit avenues used by North Korea to evade sanctions, including taking decisive action to block the vessels, shipping companies, and entities across the globe that work on North Korea's behalf,' said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
He added, 'This will significantly hinder the Kim regime's capacity to conduct evasive maritime activities that facilitate illicit coal and fuel transports, and erode its abilities to ship goods through international waters.'
Mnuchin noted President Donald Trump has made it clear that companies that choose to help fund North Korea's nuclear ambitions will not do business with the United States.
The Treasury also issued an advisory alerting the public to the significant sanctions risks to those continuing to enable shipments of goods to and from North Korea.
Trump briefly mentioned the new sanctions against North Korea in his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
'We imposed today the heaviest sanctions ever imposed by our country before,' Trump said. 'Frankly, hopefully something positive can happen. We will see, but hopefully something positive can happen.'
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