Trump Tightens Diplomatic Noose on Pyongyang, Hoping to Avoid War

Posted: November 21st, 2017

By Dean Cheng

Dean Cheng is the Senior Research Fellow for Chinese Political and Military Affairs at The Heritage Foundation and is the author of the volume Cyber Dragon: Inside China’s Information Warfare and Cyber Operations (Praeger Publishing, 2016). Prior to joining The Heritage Foundation, he worked for the Center for Naval Analysis, SAIC, and the US Congress’ Office of Technology Assessment.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the U.S. government has designated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism in a move that will trigger additional economic sanctions against the rogue nation. This is the second time that North Korea has been listed as a state sponsor of terror, with its first designation coming in 1987. However, George W. Bush’s administration removed Pyongyang from the list in 2008 in exchange for progress in nuclear talks.

In an interview with The Cipher Brief, Dean Cheng, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said North Korea’s inclusion as a state sponsor of terror will have more of a political than economic impact, as the additional sanctions that accompany such a billing are not likely to significantly impact North Korea’s economy.

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