Trump orders withdrawal of sanctions against N Korea immediately after Treasury imposes them
Washington, Mar 23: Donald Trump has abruptly ordered the withdrawal of additional "large-scale" sanctions on North Korea, immediately after the Treasury Department imposed them, with his press secretary saying that the US President "likes" North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and does not think they are necessary.
President Trump's unusual move comes after his second summit with Kim, held last month in Hanoi, Vietnam. Trump walked out of that summit after refusing to agree to the North Korea's demands of lifting all sanctions.
"It was announced today by the US Treasury that additional large- scale sanctions would be added to those already existing sanctions on North Korea. I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional sanctions!" Trump tweeted on Friday.
This was an apparent reference to sanctions the Treasury Department has announced Thursday on Chinese shipping companies doing business with North Korea. Those sanctions prompted swift pushback from the Chinese and North Korean governments.
The two companies are Dalian Haibo International Freight Co. Ltd. and Liaoning Danxing International Forwarding Co. Ltd.
The sanctions were the first new sign of pressure since talks between Trump and Kim broke down in Hanoi.
"The US and our like-minded partners remain committed to achieving the final, fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea and believe that the full implementation of North Korea-related UN Security Council re solutions is crucial to a successful outcome," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
"Treasury will continue to enforce our sanctions, and we are making it explicitly clear that shipping companies employing deceptive tactics to mask illicit trade with North Korea expose themselves to great risk," it said.
The National Security Advisor John Bolton described it as an "important" action.
"The maritime industry must do more to stop North Korea's illicit shipping practices. Everyone should take notice and review their own activities to ensure they are not involved in North Korea's sanctions evasion," Bolton tweeted.
The White House, however, defended Trump's decision.
"President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesn't think these sanctions will be necessary," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
In June, Trump and Kim had their first-ever historic meeting aimed at normalising ties and complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
While North Korea since then has refrained from overtly provocative actions like testing nuclear warheads or ballistic missiles, it has yet to agree to actually give up any piece of its atomic arsenal.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
