Donald Trump poised to announce 'largest package' of North Korean sanctions

US President Donald Trump is expected to announce fresh sanctions against North Korea.

The latest sanctions are set to be the largest implemented by the US against the hermit nation, in retaliation for their continued nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

Trump is expected to announce the latest measures at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday morning (23 February), with more details set to be revealed later by the Treasury Department.

Speaking to Reuters, one anonymous administration official said that the new sanctions would be "the largest package of new sanctions against the North Korea regime."

The first signs of these were given two weeks ago when Vice President Mike Pence, speaking from South Korea, said that new sanctions were set to be announced.

On Thursday, 22 February, Pence continued the rhetoric by calling Kim Jo Yong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, "a central pillar of the most tyrannical and oppressive regime on the planet."

The measures are set to be announced just as the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, arrives in South Korea.

She will be heading up the US delegation attending the closing ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Relations between the North and the South have been closely watched for the duration of the games.

The two Korean teams walked under one flag in the opening ceremony, which was attended by Kim Jo Yong.

As well as forming a united women's hockey team, the North sent a group of cheerleaders down to various events at the Winter Olympics.

But state officials have described these measures as a means of trying to benefit themselves, US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said on Tuesday that "their sources of revenue are drying up. Sending cheerleaders to Pyeongchang was a sign of desperation, not national pride."