Sen. Cruz set to introduce bill to re-list North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) released a plan this week to introduce a bill that would re-list North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Cruz’s bill received cosponsors from U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis
(R-NC), Dean Heller (R-NV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Cory Gardner (R-CO).

A companion bill was recently introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX).

The bill comes in response to recent missile tests conducted by the North Korean military, four of which landed approximately 600 miles off the coast of Japan, a key regional U.S. ally.

“Nearly a decade ago, the United States de-listed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a state sponsor of terrorism in exchange for guarantees to give up its nuclear program,” Cruz said. “Much like the ill-fated 1994 ‘Agreed Framework’ that gave North Korea nuclear technology, the result of this deal was a disaster: Kim Jong-un oversaw two nuclear tests and over twenty ballistic missile tests last year alone, and has persisted in utilizing terror as an instrument of state policy.”

Since being removed from the list in 2008, North Korea has conducted targeted cyber attacks on South Korean power plants, which caused a reactor malfunction in 2014. A U.S. District Court in 2014 also found that the North Korean government materially supported Hezbollah’s terrorist activities in 2006.

Cruz said he welcomed an intended change from the Obama Administration’s “strategic patience” policy on North Korea and looked forward to working with the current administration to chart a more stable future for northeast Asia.

Cruz previously requested that North Korea be re-listed as a state sponsor of terrorism in February 2016.