Donald Trump announces fresh sanctions against North Korea

Sanctions have already strangled parts of the North Korean economy

Donald Trump has confirmed that the US will be imposing fresh sanctions on North Korea amid the ongoing feud over continued missile and nuclear tests.

The president condemned the ongoing attempts by Pyongyang to build their nuclear arsenal in a speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday 19 September, promising to "totally destroy" the country" if they threatened the US.

Speaking again from the UN headquarters today (21 September) Trump was asked about further sanctions by the passing press gaggle at a meeting with the Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani.

Trump replied saying: "Yes, we will be putting more sanctions on North Korea."

It isn't known if any further sanctions would be tabled at the UN or what measures he was hoping to apply.

Two recent sets of sanctions were unanimously approved by the UN Security Council, targeting the economy of North Korea via cutting exports by a third and limiting oil supplies.

The US ambassador at the UN, Nikki Haley, said: "We have strangled their economic situation at this point. That's going to take a little bit of time but it has already started to take effect."

Haley and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are expected to announce new measures against North Korea later today.

Trump is set to meet the leaders of Japan and South Korea today to discuss the ongoing geo-political situation.