The U.S. is mulling to designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, the White House has said, as President Donald Trump embarked on his five-nation Asia trip on Friday during which the issue of the reclusive nation would be taken up prominently.
“That is an option that’s under consideration,” the National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster told reporters at a White House news conference when asked if designating North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism was an option for the U.S..
“The President’s Cabinet is looking at this as part of the overall strategy on North Korea,” he said.
Mr. McMaster lashed out at the North Korean regime for the “murder” of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged brother of its dictator Kim Jong-Un.
“A regime that murders someone in a public airport using nerve agent, and a despotic leader who murders his brother in that manner, that’s clearly an act of terrorism that fits with a range of other actions,” Mr. McMaster said.
Concerted effort
There was a concerted effort to isolate North Korea economically. And that had been combined with a major diplomatic effort that asks all countries to do more, he said, adding that there was “tremendous momentum” behind that now.
Mr. McMaster rued that approaches in the past had not delivered on halting and then reversing North Korea’s “very dangerous” nuclear and missile programs.
