(VOVworld) – President Barack Obama signed on Wednesday new sanctions against North Korea in retaliation for its nuclear test in January and ballistic missile launch in February.

President Obama is imposing new sanctions on North Korea. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

The same day White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the U.S. and the global community would not tolerate North Korea’s illicit nuclear and ballistic missile activities.

North Korea recently sentenced Otto Warmbier, an American college student, to 15 years’ hard labor after finding him guilty of “crimes against the state”.

Earnest called it a political decision and demanded an immediate release of the 21-year-old student. He accused North Korea of using US citizens as “pawns to pursue a political agenda”.