Bipartisan lawmakers offer bill to toughen sanctions on North Korea

Bipartisan leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee have introduced legislation to expand sanctions against North Korea.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Rep. Eliot Engel (N.Y.), the panel’s top Democrat, said the measure is necessary in light of the recent hack on Sony Pictures, which the FBI attributed to North Korea.

{mosads}The bill would require sanctions against people who have contributed to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile development. It would further target individuals who import luxury goods into North Korea or facilitate censorship.

“By shutting down North Korea’s illicit activities, we deprive the Kim [Jong Un] regime of the money it needs to pay the generals and to conduct nuclear weapons research,” Royce said in a statement.

The measure would also re-apply sanctions on North Korea that were lifted in 2008 upon the country’s removal form the U.S.’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. Those sanctions restrict export licenses and prevent financial transactions between Americans and the North Korean government.

Engel urged allied countries to join in the sanctions.

“This bipartisan legislation would strengthen U.S. sanctions and close loopholes used by the Kim regime to profit from illicit activities. However, effectively enforcing sanctions against North Korea is not something that the United States can do alone—it requires our allies, our partners, and the rest of the global community to join in this effort,” Engel said.

The House passed a similar bill last year by voice vote, but it didn’t receive action in the Senate.