The Trump administration is considering sweeping sanctions aimed at cutting North Korea off from the global financial system as part of a broad review of measures to counter Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threat, a senior U.S. official said Monday.
The sanctions would be part of a multipronged approach of increased economic and diplomatic pressure — especially on Chinese banks and firms that do the most business with North Korea — plus beefed-up defenses by the United States and its South Korean and Japanese allies, according to the administration official familiar with the deliberations.
While the long-standing option of pre-emptive military strikes against North Korea is not off the table — as reflected by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's warning to Pyongyang during his Asia tour last week — the new administration is giving priority for now to less-risky options.