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U.S. Imposes Fresh Sanctions on North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looks during field guidance at an object that appears to be a ballistic missile warhead, in this photo from the March 15 edition of the Rodong Sinmun newspaper.

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Mr Kim made the comments while observing officials conducting a simulation test of re-entry technology, said the news agency.

Legislation that Obama signed into law on February 18 was created to deny North Korea the money it needs to develop miniaturized warheads and the long-range missiles required to deliver them.

According to the official [North] Korean Central News Agency, Kim also claimed that the North succeeded in a test simulating the intense heat a nuclear warhead would experience during atmospheric reentry.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have risen after the North’s nuclear test and rocket launch. “The executive order demonstrates the U.S.’s strong resolve to respond to North Korea’s repeated provocations, including nuclear tests and missile launches”. There are numerous question marks over the North’s weapons delivery systems, with many experts believing it is still years from developing a working ICBM that could strike the continental United States.

While the North might test-fire shorter-range missiles with ranges of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) or less, it is unlikely that it would test a rocket with intercontinental range as that would probably have to fly over neighboring countries, said Jin Moo Kim, an analyst at the government-funded Korea Institute for Defense Analysis in Seoul.

North Korea recently tested its fourth nuclear test and had been threatening the US and South Korea of dire consequences, particularly at a time when the latter two have been conducting joint military exercises in the region.

Earnest says the new unilateral sanctions will allow the U.S.to implement sanctions unanimously agreed to by the U.N. Security Council.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (left) meets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their talks in Beijing on January 27. “According to our military analysis, North Korea has not yet secured reentry technology”, ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told reporters.

It launched a long-range rocket to put a satellite into orbit on Feb 7.

WASHINGTON-The Obama administration tightened the USA trade embargo on North Korea, explicitly placing sanctions on the Pyongyang government, its ruling party and broad sectors of the country’s economy. “It would be very unsafe, very destabilizing”, Hanham said.

Pyongyang had threatened nuclear strikes against the US and South Korea if they went ahead with joint military drills scheduled on Monday.

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A report by Washington’s Congressional Research Service (CRS) raised suspicions that Iran boosted its missile development by taking help from North Korea and may still be dependent on the Kim Jong Un regime to get some materials for the ballistic missiles, Yonhap reported.

N. Korea's Kim warns of impending nuclear and rocket tests