US may relist N. Korea as state 'terrorism sponsor'
By Choi Ha-young
Kim Young-woo
National Assembly Committee on National Defense Chairman Rep. Kim Young-woo has asked the U.S. Congress to re-designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.
“It appears certain that the North Korean embassy was involved in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia. This crime was orchestrated by the Kim Jong-un regime,” Kim of the Bareun Party said in a meeting.
“I earnestly request the Senate committee to work harder towards relisting North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism,” Kim said in a letter to Sen. John McCain, chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.
“The U.S. is no safe haven from North Korea’s potential terrorist attacks as the country is now home to many North Korean refugees and human rights activists.”
Following the assassination on Feb. 13, Seoul has beefed up security for anti-Pyongyang activists and defectors, including Thae Yong-ho, North Korea’s former deputy ambassador to Britain.
If relisted, trade conditions for North Korea will become much tougher, in addition to the international sanctions imposed on the country for its nuclear and missile developments.
“Through relisting, the U.S. can keep a close eye on international aid provided to North Korea and monitor its overseas activities in cooperation with Interpol,” Kim told The Korea Times.
North Korea was labeled a state sponsor of terrorism in 1988 after its agents bombed a South Korean aircraft a year before. Under former President George W. Bush, the U.S. lifted the designation in 2008, in response to Pyongyang’s pledge to allow the international community to verify its nuclear facilities.
Calls are also mounting in the U.S. to put the totalitarian nation back on the list, after the assassination of the half-brother of its leader Kim Jong-un at an airport in Kuala Lumpur.
On Thursday, Sen. Cory Gardner moved to relist North Korea, criticizing its “brutality,” as seen by the assassination.
“I formally asked the Treasury Department to work with the State Department to investigate whether North Korea meets the criteria for re-designation,” Sen. Gardner told Yonhap.
Following the attack to remove the young leader’s potential rival, North Korea faced trade retaliation from China, which suspended North Korean coal imports.
Further, diplomatic ties between Malaysia and North Korea are likely to fall apart. Regarding North Korea’s continuous buck-passing, a Malaysian government minister called North Korea a “rogue state.”