Trump considers relisting N. Korea as terror sponsor nation

U.S. President Donald Trump has begun taking steps to relist North Korea as a sponsor of terrorism. In addition, the United Nations Security Council and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced they would open a probe into the assassination of Kim Jong Nam.

A senior official at the South Korean government has confirmed that the U.S. government has initiated discussion to declare Pyongyang as a terror sponsor nation, citing a U.S government official who attended the trilateral meeting among the chief representatives from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan for the six-party talks in Washington on Monday. “The U.S. government removed North Korea from the list of terror sponsor nations in 2008 but relisting of North Korea has been on the table. After the killing of Kim, the U.S. government has begun discussion on relisting of North Korea,” said a South Korean government official. In other words, the assassination of Kim Jong Nam by a deadly VX nerve agent, which was orchestrated by North Korea, has prompted Washington to consider relisting of North Korea seriously. Kim Hong-kyun, South Korea's chief envoy on North Korea issues, Joseph Yun, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, and Kenji Kanasugi, director-general for Asian and Oceanian affairs at Japan's Foreign Ministry, attended the trilateral meeting in Washington.

The public’s support for relisting of North Korea as a terror sponsor nation is stronger than ever in Washington. The U.S. Congress proposed a bill to relist North Korea as a terror sponsor nation in January. In a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Republican Senator Cory Gardner and five other senators recently called for re-designation of North Korea as a terror sponsor nation and implementation of stronger sanctions.

Devin Nunes, the chair of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, told reporters on Monday that North Korea is “completely unhinged” and “it is impossible to hold negotiations with North Korea.” Former CIA Director John Brennan also said in an interview on CBS that all of the clues behind the assassination of Kim Jong Nam point to North Korea.

Seung-Heon Lee ddr@donga.com · Wan-Jun Yun zeitung@donga.com