[303] On September 2, 2007, North Korea agreed to disclose and dismantle all its nuclear programs by the end of 2007.[304] By May 2009, North Korea had restarted its nuclear program and threatened to attack South Korea.[305]
On June 22, 2010, "While South Korea prospers, the people of North Korea have suffered profoundly," he said, adding that communism had resulted in dire poverty, mass starvation, and brutal suppression. "In recent years," he went on to say, "the suffering has been compounded by the leader who wasted North Korea's precious few resources on personal luxuries and nuclear weapons programs."[306]

Syria sanctions
Bush expanded economic sanctions on Syria.[307] In 2003, Bush signed the Syria Accountability Act, which expanded sanctions on Syria. In early 2007, the Treasury Department, acting on a June 2005 executive order, froze American bank accounts of Syria's Higher Institute of Applied Science and Technology, Electronics Institute, and National Standards and Calibration Laboratory. Bush's order prohibits Americans from doing business with these institutions suspected of helping spread weapons of mass destruction[308] and being supportive of terrorism.