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PN's Voice 105, 19.01.2017
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PN's Voice No. 105, 19. 01. 2017
Small steps, Road to peace
US Congress Proposes Bill to Relist N. Korea as State Terrorism Sponsor
The U.S. Congress is making moves to redesignate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. According to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Republican Rep. Ted Poe of Texas proposed a bill last Thursday, calling for relisting the North on the U.S. terrorism sponsor list. The bill calls for the U.S. president to review around 20 incidents regarding North Korea’s terrorist acts, including the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air flight, which contributed to the North’s first inclusion on the list in 1988. The bill also calls for the U.S. government’s investigation into the North’s involvement in global terrorist acts and the submission of its result to either the Senate or the House of Representatives within 90 days.
The U.S. Congress is making moves to redesignate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. According to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Republican Rep. Ted Poe of Texas proposed a bill last Thursday, calling for relisting the North on the U.S. terrorism sponsor list. The bill calls for the U.S. president to review around 20 incidents regarding North Korea’s terrorist acts, including the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air flight, which contributed to the North’s first inclusion on the list in 1988. The bill also calls for the U.S. government’s investigation into the North’s involvement in global terrorist acts and the submission of its result to either the Senate or the House of Representatives within 90 days.
Source : KBS News
SK: NK ICBM Test Looking More Likely
Pyongyang may be preparing to test-launch an upgraded prototype of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), South Korea has warned. In his new year’s speech the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, boasted a test launch would happen soon and state media has said a launch could come at any time. Experts on the regime’s missile programme believe the claims to be credible. That test launch could coincide with the inauguration of Donald Trump as president on Friday, South Korean media said.
South Korean intelligence agencies had spotted what looked like the lower half of an ICBM being transported, said the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, citing military sources. “It was different from a conventional Musudan missile in its length and shape,” the source told the Chosun Ilbo. The Musudan is an intermediate-range missile tested by North Korea in 2016. “It is possible they were moving it somewhere for assembly,” the source said.
In 2016 North Korea conducted a test of an ICBM engine made up of a cluster of smaller rockets. The Washington-based thinktank 38 North said on Thursday that operations at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility may have restarted. North Korea is believed to be able to reprocess plutonium at Yongbyon for nuclear warheads. 38 North said a lack of snow on the roof of the facility visible in satellite imagery indicated the building was being heated and therefore in operation.
Source : The Guardian
Trump's pick for U.N. envoy: 'We can't let up on North Korea'
Nikki Haley , the nominee to become new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Wednesday that the U.S. "can't let up on North Korea" forging ahead with its nuclear program, as she vowed to increase pressure on Pyongyang in close cooperation with China. Highlighting North Korea’s high priority to the incoming administration, Haley said; "North Korea is definitely one to watch. I think we're going to have to work closely with China to show the threat of what's happening. We can't let up on North Korea. What we are seeing right now is production of nuclear weapons.”
She said enforcement is key to sanctions, and "clearly there is more to do" with regard to the North. When it comes to sanctions on the North, Chinese enforcement can "make magic," she said. "I think, for us to do sanctions against ... North Korea, that's all well and good. If I can get China to help and really strengthen those sanctions, then we make magic," she said. "We need China's help when it comes to North Korea," she said. "You see China right now pulling away from North Korea a bit because they see the missiles that are being built. They know what's happening. And we just have to encourage them that this is not good for China. And then when you do that, that's when you can start seeing more pressure being put on North Korea."
She said enforcement is key to sanctions, and "clearly there is more to do" with regard to the North. When it comes to sanctions on the North, Chinese enforcement can "make magic," she said. "I think, for us to do sanctions against ... North Korea, that's all well and good. If I can get China to help and really strengthen those sanctions, then we make magic," she said. "We need China's help when it comes to North Korea," she said. "You see China right now pulling away from North Korea a bit because they see the missiles that are being built. They know what's happening. And we just have to encourage them that this is not good for China. And then when you do that, that's when you can start seeing more pressure being put on North Korea."
Source : Yonhap News
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