On February 18, 2016, President Obama signed into law the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 (the "Act"), which strengthens and expands existing U.S. sanctions against the authoritarian regime. The legislation was proposed shortly after continued ballistic missile testing early this month and nuclear proliferation activities by the North Korean regime. The Act received broad bipartisan support in both houses of Congress and authorizes Obama to impose economic sanctions on North Korean persons and entities engaged in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and those that threaten U.S. cybersecurity and commit human rights violations. It also imposes mandatory sanctions for entities involved in North Korea's mineral or metal trade.
For additional information, see coverage in the New York Times.
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