Trump extends sanctions on N. Korea for 1 year

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday extended sanctions on North Korea for a year, citing the "unusual and extraordinary" threat posed by its nuclear weapons program.

The extension comes 10 days after Trump's historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, during which the North committed to "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for U.S. security guarantees.

"The existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States," Trump wrote in a routine notice to Congress.

For this reason, Trump said, six executive orders that were issued under his and past administrations to sanction North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs must continue in effect beyond June 26.

"Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to North Korea declared in Executive Order 13466," he wrote.

The action appears to underscore the Trump administration's goal of keeping sanctions on North Korea until it takes concrete steps toward denuclearization.

But it also contradicts an earlier assertion by Trump that the nuclear threat is over.

"Just landed -- a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea," Trump wrote on Twitter upon returning from Singapore.

hague@yna.co.kr
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