US mulls relisting North Korea as state terror sponsor
WASHINGTON: The United States is considering reinstating North Korea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism following the recent killing of the North Korean leader’s half-brother in Malaysia, government and diplomatic sources said on Saturday.
The administration of President Donald Trump is gathering and analysing information on the Feb 13 murder of Kim Jong-nam, in which Malaysian police said the deadly VX nerve gas agent was used, according to the sources.
Voices calling for tougher measures against Pyongyang are growing particularly among US lawmakers in the wake of the launch of a new variety of ballistic missile by North Korea just a day before the slaying of the estranged brother of the North’s leader Kim Jong-un.
But the administration could take time to reach a decision on blacklisting North Korea as some officials in the government are concerned such action may further narrow the window of opportunity for dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.
Citing people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported that plans for back-channel talks in New York between US and North Korean officials were scuttled on Friday after the state department withdrew visa approvals for Pyongyang’s top envoy on US relations.
A country is placed on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism if the US secretary of state determines it to have repeatedly aided acts of international terrorism. Its designation comes with financial sanctions, a ban on arms exports to the country and other measures.
Malaysian authorities identified at least eight North Koreans, including an official of the North Korean embassy in the country, suspected of being involved in the killing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
For the first time under the Trump administration, chief negotiators on the North Korean nuclear issue from the US, Japan and South Korea plan to meet in Washington today. A diplomatic source said the negotiators are likely to exchange opinions also on the possible designation of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.
South Korea has accused the North of being behind the murder, with Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn describing it as “an act of terrorism that should never be tolerated under any circumstances”.
A US government source said various information will be scrutinised to see if it is a case evidently satisfying conditions for re-designation.
Following the North Korean missile test earlier this month, senators, including Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, both of whom vied for the Republican presidential nomination last year, urged Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to work with the state department to investigate whether the country merits re-designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
The diplomatic source cited concerns the North may be cooperating with Iran or Syria, both blacklisted as nations sponsoring terrorism, in developing weapons of mass destruction.
Rep Brad Sherman, a Democrat, cited the need for re-designation at a congressional hearing Feb 16, saying the US “should never have taken North Korea off the state sponsor of terrorism list”. But with already a wide range of economic sanctions introduced against the North, some people say re-designation would only have limited impact.
North Korea had been placed on the blacklist in January 1988 after the bombing of a South Korean airliner the preceding year. Korean Air Lines Flight 858 from Baghdad to Seoul crashed into the Indian Ocean off Myanmar, killing all 115 people aboard. South Korean authorities determined it was an act of terror by North Korean agents.
The designation was lifted in October 2008 under the administration of then President George W Bush.
Washington’s delisting was aimed at advancing the stalled multilateral negotiations on disbanding the reclusive state’s nuclear arsenal. Pyongyang at that time agreed to a series of measures to verify its nuclear activities.
The US list currently has only three countries — Syria, Iran and Sudan — after Cuba was crossed off in May 2015.