‘Patience is over’ – Trump tells North Korea

His comments came only a day before President Trump is scheduled to meet new South Korean president Moon Jae-in to discuss the threat posed by the secretive hermit state.

The Bank of Dandong will no longer be able to access the US financial system “either directly or indirectly” and called the action “very significant”, Mnuchin said.

The meeting is expected to be eclipsed by three issues, North Korea, China and the deployment of USA missile defense system in South Korea.

A South Korean delegation indicated skepticism about deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD missile defense system for South Korea.

Moon said the two leaders have had an “honest discussion” in the meetings Thursday and Friday.

Mnuchin said on Thursday that the Bank of Dandong “has served as a gateway for North Korea to access the USA and worldwide financial systems, facilitating millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs”.

While North Korea may be the most imminent threat, White House officials said the president is determined to get a new trade deal with South Korea. The penalties include prohibitions that will cut off the Bank of Dandong from the worldwide finance system.

Senior fellow at the Centre for American Progress, Adam Mount, said: “The alliance is vital for anything the Trump administration wants to do on North Korea, from sanctions enforcement and deterrence to human rights issues, you name it”.

The Trump administration has blacklisted a Chinese bank accused of illicit dealings with North Korea.

“We accomplished a lot having to do with our thoughts on North Korea and very much our thoughts on trade”, Mr Trump told reporters on Friday in the Oval Office. He’s also pushed for symbolic gestures, including the possibility of North Korean participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The welcome dinner was hosted by the USA first couple and Moon attended with his wife, Kim Jung-sook.

Last week, Chinese and American officials met to discuss what Beijing – North Korea’s only major ally – could do to deter Kim from continuing his work. The agency also blasted the U.S. FinCEN issued a proposal to sever ties between the institution and the US financial system.

The visit, a White House official said minutes later, will likely be sandwiched between a bilateral meeting with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo and a trio of November regional summits in the Philippines and Vietnam.