Sanctions or Saving Lives? Foreign Policy

Since the start of this year, the Trump administration has gradually lifted key sanctions placed on North Korea after its maximum-pressure campaign received criticism from relief agencies and international organizations for denying life-saving supplies for the impoverished nation. These lifted restrictions include a freeze on the inflow of medical supplies and relief workers into Pyongyang. Many NGOs welcomed this as a first step in the right direction, Foreign Policy’s Colum Lynch reports, but they remain wary of the bureaucratic red tape in place that hinders their operations. The Trump administration, countering North Korea’s sheepish reaction to its diplomatic outreach, doubled down on the aid flowing into the country starting in summer of 2018, narrowing the definition of humanitarian assistance. This stance triggered a climate of fear among shipping companies that any importing activity into North Korea could violate of US sanctions. The president also unilaterally announced on March 22 his reversal of the US Treasury Department’s sanctions, just one day old, on two Chinese shipping companies accused of helping North Korea evade international sanctions. – YaleGlobal