DEMINT URGES CLINTON TO RE-LIST NORTH KOREA AS STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR

Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and 7 other senators wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling on the administration to immediately relist North Korea on the U.S. State Department's State Sponsors of Terrorism List. The letter was signed by U.S. Senators Chambliss (R-GA), Coburn (R-OK), Cornyn (R-TX), DeMint (R-SC), Ensign (R-NV), Enzi (R-WY), Sessions (R-AL), and Vitter (R-LA). The letter text is below and you can find a pdf copy of the letter here. June 2, 2009 The Honorable Hillary Clinton Secretary U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 Dear Madame Secretary: We are writing to request that you immediately place the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) back on the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism List. As you know, the DPRK has never ended the activities for which it was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism. A number of reports have demonstrated this fact. Despite this fact, under the Six-Party Talks framework that focused on “action for action,” former President Bush removed the DPRK from the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism List to encourage the DPRK to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. However, in recent weeks, the DPRK has engaged in a number of nuclear and missile tests that have destabilized the region and increased the threat to U.S. national security. In addition, the DPRK has gone even further in announcing its withdrawal from the 1953 Armistice the United Nations negotiated to end the Korean War. The DPRK has neither ended its sponsorship of terror activities nor moved in the direction intended when President Bush de-listed the DPRK. In fact, the DPRK has done just the opposite. In light of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’s announcement that DPRK is preparing to launch a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States, it is critical that the DPRK be placed back on the list without delay and that its regime is denied access to multinational loans and other financial vehicles that help fund their destabilizing activities. Sincerely, Jim DeMint John Cornyn Jeff Sessions Tom Coburn Saxby Chambliss Michael B. Enzi David Vitter John Ensign

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