Sec. 3. Findings
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Congress makes the following findings: The North Korean nuclear weapons program is the culmination of the Government of North Korea’s illegal efforts over six decades to acquire a nuclear weapons program capable of threatening both the United States and United States critical allies in the Indo-Pacific region. North Korea maintains a robust ballistic missile arsenal that includes a diverse array of delivery systems capable of striking targets throughout the Indo-Pacific region, including short- and medium-range missiles that hold regional countries, including some United States allies, at risk, and intercontinental ballistic missiles that are potentially capable of targeting the United States mainland.
North Korea has flagrantly defied the international community by continuing to illicitly develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013), 2094 (2013), 2270 (2016), 2321 (2016), 2356 (2017), 2371 (2017), 2375 (2017), and 2397 (2017). United States law, including the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 ( Public Law 114–122 ; 22 U.S.C. 9201 et seq.) authorizes sanctions in response to North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, and ballistic missiles, and its human rights abuses.
United States law also specifies the conditions under which sanctions may be removed or waived, including that North Korea takes meaningful and verifiable actions toward denuclearization and addresses human rights concerns. International economic and diplomatic sanctions applied since the passage of the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016, including by the United States and the United Nations, when enforced, have intensified pressure on North Korea and degraded North Korea’s ability to advance it’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The United States has applied sanctions against North Korean individuals and entities, including on Kim Jong Un, for their complicity in human rights abuses against the North Korean people and citizens of other countries, including the United States, South Korea, and Japan. For decades, the Government of North Korea has failed to live up to its diplomatic commitments, rejecting good faith efforts by United States and international negotiators, and leveraging talks to extract concessions such as sanctions relief.
On January 1, 2018, in a New Year’s Day address, Kim Jong Un signaled an interest in undertaking diplomatic engagement, which led to direct bilateral talks between Kim Jong Un and the leaders of the South Korea, China, and the United States. On April 22, 2018, Kim Jong Un asserted that North Korea had completed its quest for nuclear weapons, stating that under the proven condition of complete nuclear weapons, we no longer need any nuclear tests, mid-range and intercontinental ballistic rocket tests, and that the nuclear test site in northern area has also completed its mission .
The Panmunjom Declaration released following the Inter-Korean summit meeting on April 27, 2018, and the joint declaration by President Trump and Kim Jong Un at the June 12, 2018, summit between the United States and North Korea in Singapore reaffirmed that North Korea commits to working toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula . On June 13, 2018, Secretary of State Pompeo said, President Trump has been incredibly clear about the sequencing of denuclearization and relief from the sanctions.
We are going to get complete denuclearization; only then will there be relief from the sanctions. . The Secretary of State confirmed on July 25, 2018, in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that North Korea does continue to produce fissile material and, according to open source analysis, North Korea has enough fissile material for at least 30 to 60 nuclear weapons. The North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 provides that certain sanctions terminate when North Korea has “made significant progress toward— “completely, verifiably, and irreversibly dismantling all of its nuclear, chemical, biological, and radiological weapons programs, including all programs for the development of systems designed in whole or in part for the delivery of such weapons”; and accounting for and repatriating the citizens of other countries abducted or unlawfully held captive, releasing political prisoners including those in political prison camps, and accepting and abiding by internationally recognized standards for the distribution and monitoring of humanitarian aid.
A robust military posture, including regular training and exercises, by the United States, South Korea, and Japan, has contributed to peace and stability in Northeast Asia. South Korea has contributed heavily to its own defense and to the defense of the United States military forces in South Korea, including by providing $10 billion of the $10.8 billion toward the Camp Humphreys project to build and relocate United States military forces to a new base in South Korea. United States military forces, pursuant to international law, are lawfully deployed on the Korean Peninsula.
The nuclear and ballistic missile programs of North Korea are clear and consistent violations of international law. The long-stated strategic objective of authoritarian states, such as China, Russia, and North Korea, has been the removal of United States military forces from the Korean Peninsula. On September 18, 2018, the Pyongyang Declaration between President Moon of South Korea and Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea clarified that North Korea’s willingness to denuclearize was conditioned on unspecified United States or international concessions stating, The North expressed its willingness to continue to take additional measures, such as the permanent dismantlement of the nuclear facilities in Yeongbyeon, as the United States takes corresponding measures in accordance with the spirit of the June 12 U.S.–DPRK Joint Statement. .
On December 31, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 ( Public Law 115–409 ), which states that— it is the policy of the United States that the objective of negotiations with respect to the nuclear and ballistic missile programs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea be the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of such programs; it is the policy of the United States to continue to impose sanctions with respect to activities of the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, persons acting for or on behalf of such government, or other persons in accordance with applicable United States law; the Secretary of State shall submit regular reports to the appropriate congressional committees that describe actions taken by the United States to address the threats posed by, and the capabilities of, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; and the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit justifications to the appropriate committees not later than 30 days after terminating any sanction with respect to the activities of the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or a person acting for or on behalf of such government.
On December 20, 2018, North Korean state media reiterated North Korea’s longstanding nuclear policy, stating if we unilaterally eliminate our security guarantees against a U.S. nuclear preemptive strike, it would not be considered denuclearization , and further defined denuclearization of the Korean peninsula as removing all nuclear threats, not only from North and South Korean territory, but also from the surrounding area aimed at the Korean Peninsula . On January 1, 2019, in his New Year’s Day address, Kim Jong Un stated, Given that the North and South committed themselves to advancing along the road of peace and prosperity, we maintain that the joint military exercises with foreign forces, which constitute the source of aggravating the situation on the Korean Peninsula, should no longer be permitted and the introduction of war equipment including strategic assets from outside should be completely suspended. .
On January 1, 2019, in his New Year’s Day address, Kim Jong Un further stated, But if the United States does not keep the promise it made in the eyes of the world, and of the miscalculation of our people’s patience, it attempts to unilaterally enforce something upon us and persists in imposing sanctions and pressure against our Republic, we may be compelled to find a new way for defending the sovereignty of the country and the supreme interests of the state and for achieving peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula. .
On January 29, 2019, Director of National Intelligence Coats testified before the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate that we currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its WMD (weapons of mass destruction) capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capability because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival and that the United States intelligence agencies are observing activity that is inconsistent with full denuclearization .
On February 28, 2019, a second United States-North Korea summit ended without a joint statement or agreement, and Secretary of State Pompeo has said that I am confident there will be a third summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un, adding We came out of Hanoi with a deeper understanding of each other. The positions that the two sides had, the two leaders were able to make progress in that respect. We didn’t get as far as the world is demanding. These are global sanctions that are on North Korea today … We’re determined.
I’m convinced the North Koreans are determined as well. Chairman Kim has promised me, he’s promised President Trump, he will denuclearize. Now it’s the mission of my team to make sure that happens. . On May 5, 2019, North Korea tested three missile systems at ranges of up to 240 kilometers, including a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), a 300mm multiple rocket launcher (MRL), and a 240mm multiple rocket launcher. On May 9, 2019, the Department of Justice announced the filing of a civil forfeiture complaint against a bulk carrier ship registered in North Korea, which according to the complaint, was used to illicitly ship coal from North Korea and to deliver heavy machinery to the DPRK , in violation of longstanding U.S. law and United Nations Security Council resolutions .
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