US announces sanctions on North Korea ahead of military exercises in region

Today Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced new sanctions against North Korea. The news came during a visit to the border between South and North Korea.

"Today I'm announcing a series of measures to increase our ability to prevent North Korea's proliferation, to halt their illicit activities that help fund their weapons programs and to discourage further provocative actions."

Clinton made the visit with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. This also comes ahead of an increase in military exercises, set to begin this weekend. Tensions in the region have been high since the torpedo sinking of a South Korean ship called the Cheonan, that killed 46 sailors in March.

For more, we're joined by Christine Ahn. She's a policy analyst with the Los Angeles-based Korea Policy Institute. She's addressed the United Nations, U.S. Congress, and the South Korean National Human Rights Commission on US-Korea relations, trade and militarization. She's part of the National Campaign to End the Korean War.