Obama widens US sanctions on Pyongyang

U.S. President Barack Obama decided to broaden economic sanctions on North Korea Monday and froze the U.S. assets of four North Korean citizens and eight firms, The Reuters reported Monday.

Obama signed an executive order Monday that lets the United States block the U.S. assets of North Korean entities that trade in conventional arms or luxury products, or other "illicit" activity that U.S. believes would support the authorities in Pyongyang.

It was unclear how the actions, which U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton previewed in July, might affect the odds of reviving multilateral talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programs, The Reuters report said.

Washington views the nuclear capabilities of Pyongyang, which tested nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009, as a threat to its Asian allies South Korea and Japan and its own homeland.

U.S.-North Korean relations have deteriorated since Obama took office, with his aides deeply unhappy about Pyongyang's decision to conduct nuclear and missile tests in 2009 as well as the March 26 sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan, which Washington believed was done by a torpedo from North Korea.

In the executive order, posted on the U.S. Treasury website, Obama cited the Cheonan's sinking as well as the nuclear and missile tests as evidence North Korea poses "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."

By People's Daily Online/Agencies