WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) — President Trump announced new financial measures against North Korea on Friday aimed at ensuring Pyongyang cannot continue to fuel its nuclear ambitions by sidestepping existing sanctions.

“Today we put the strongest sanctions on Korea that we have ever put on a country,” Trump said at a news conference with the Australian prime minister. “We must continue to stand together to prevent the brutal dictatorship from threatening the world with nuclear devastation.”

The measures target 56 vessels, shipping companies and other entities that U.S. officials say are used by North Korea to conduct trade prohibited under previous sanctions.

They come as the Trump administration seeks new ways to intensify pressure on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose increasingly advanced missile and nuclear weapon programs have made the isolated nation the most pressing foreign threat facing the United States.