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Article snippet: Kim Jong-un was still in college in 2006 when the imposed economic sanctions on his father’s regime to stop North Korea from becoming a nuclear power. Washington enlisted the cooperation of China, the only country with the capacity to sever North Korea’s economic lifeline. Ratcheting up the punishment last year, Congress passed the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act, aiming for the nation’s economic jugular. It failed. This month, Mr. Kim — supreme leader since the death of his father in 2011 — tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that could feasibly deliver a nuclear warhead all the way to Alaska. This week Congress is expected to add to its arsenal of international deterrents, writing into law a panoply of economic penalties against Russia and — critically — curtailing President Trump’s ability to lift them on his own. Annoying Vladimir V. Putin could be considered in and of itself a worthy goal. Or, as Gary Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute for International Economics noted, “a big part of the bill is a slap to President Trump for his close association with Russia.” Whatever the case, legislators might want to explain what they are after. If there are members of Congress who believe that the package will change Mr. Putin’s behavior — convince him of the merits of returning Crimea to Ukraine, perhaps, or persuade him to stop his hacker friends from tinkering with foreign elections — they might be interested in a decommissioned North Kore... Link to the full article to read more