Trump Declares North Korea a State Sponsor of Terrorism – By Paul D. Shinkman (usnews.com) / Nov 20 2017
President Donald Trump on Monday said the U.S. will once again label North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, adding it to a small list of countries subjected to harsh economic sanctions and other U.S. restrictions.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said the move constitutes a new effort to put maximum pressure on the “murderous regime” of Kim Jong Un and will include “the largest level of sanctions by the United States.”
“As we take this action today, our thoughts turn to Otto Warmbier,” Trump said, referencing the 22-year-old University of Virginia student who was detained for reportedly trying to leave North Korea with a propaganda poster. He was held for 17 months and died shortly after returning to the U.S. in June. A coroner who examined his body said his death was related to a lack of oxygen to the brain, but she could not determine how the injury had occurred.
Monday’s designation is designed to force North Korea to cease its ballistic missile development and nuclear program, in addition to its support for international terrorism, Trump said.
Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program has sharply advanced in recent months amid more frequent tests. Eliminating it was a central focus of Trump’s 12-day tour through Asia earlier this month, where he met with leaders from South Korea, Japan and China.
Iran, Sudan and Syria are also on the State Department’s list of other state sponsors of terrorism. North Korea had previously been on the list but was removed in 2008 following an attempt at rapprochement by the George W. Bush administration for meeting criteria under U.S. law that it had not supported international terrorist groups for a six-month period.
The Treasury Department stated in June 2016 that it considered North Korea a “primary money laundering concern,” according to a State Department report released that year.
The White House has been considering the move for at least a month. National security adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters Nov. 2 that “the president’s Cabinet is looking at this as a part of the overall strategy on North Korea.”
“A regime who murders someone in a public airport using nerve agents and a despotic leader who murders his brother in that matter, that’s clearly an act of terrorism that fits in with the range of other actions,” McMaster said, referring to the February killing of Kim Jong Nam, the Korean leader’s half-brother, at an airport in Malaysia.
A group of 12 senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in October advocating for the administration to consider adding North Korea back to the list of terror sponsors.
PB/TK – It’s about damn time someone finally labels the little rogue nation as such. Of course this will hurt their tourism industry, seriously who the hell says “hey honey we’re going to North Korea on our honeymoon”?
