II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 672 

To require a report on designation of North Korea as a state sponsor 

of terrorism, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2017 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. HELLER, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. 

RUBIO, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. GARDNER, and Mr. INHOFE) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require a report on designation of North Korea as a 

state sponsor of terrorism, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘North Korea State 

5 Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPORT ON DESIGNATION OF GOVERNMENT OF 

2 NORTH KOREA AS A STATE SPONSOR OF TER3 RORISM. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find5 ings: 

6 (1) The United States Government designated 

7 the Government of North Korea a state sponsor of 

8 terrorism on January 20, 1988. 

9 (2) On October 11, 2008, North Korea’s des10 ignation as a state sponsor of terrorism was re11 scinded, following commitments by the Government 

12 of North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons 

13 program. However, North Korea has failed to live up 

14 to these commitments. 

15 (3) On October 22, 2015, the U.S. Special Rep16 resentative for North Korea Policy with the Depart17 ment of State testified before the House Foreign Af18 fairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, 

19 and Trade that North Korea’s ‘‘conduct poses a 

20 growing threat to the United States, our friends in 

21 the region, and the global nonproliferation regime’’ 

22 and the Deputy Coordinator for Homeland Security, 

23 Screening, and Designations with the Department of 

24 State noted that ‘‘weapons transfers that violate 

25 nonproliferation or missile control regimes could be 

26 a relevant factor for consideration, depending on the 


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1 circumstances, consistent with the statutory criteria 

2 for designation as a state sponsor of terrorism’’. 

3 (4) The Government of North Korea has har4 bored members of the Japanese Red Army since a 

5 1970 hijacking and continues to harbor the sur6 viving hijackers to this day. 

7 (5) On July 16, 2010, in the case of Calderon8 Cardona v. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 

9 (case number 08–01367), the United States District 

10 Court for the District of Puerto Rico found that the 

11 Government of North Korea provided material sup12 port to the Japanese Red Army, designated as a for13 eign terrorist organization between 1997 and 2001, 

14 in furtherance of a 1972 terrorist attack at Lod Air15 port, Israel, that killed 26 people, including 17 

16 Americans. 

17 (6) In the case of Chaim Kaplan v. Hezbollah 

18 (case number 09–646), a United States district 

19 court found in 2014 that North Korea materially 

20 supported terrorist attacks by Hezbollah, a des21 ignated foreign terrorist organization, against Israel 

22 in 2006. 

23 (7) In June 2010, Major Kim Myong-ho and 

24 Major Dong Myong-gwan of North Korea’s Recon25 naissance General Bureau pled guilty in a South KoVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Mar 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S672.IS S672

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1 rean court to attempting to assassinate Hwang 

2 Jang-yop, a North Korean dissident in exile, on the 

3 orders of Lieutenant General Kim Yong-chol, the 

4 head of North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bu5 reau. The court sentenced each defendant to 10 

6 years in prison. 

7 (8) In March 2015, the South Korean govern8 ment concluded that North Korea was responsible 

9 for a December 2014 cyber attack against multiple 

10 nuclear power plants in South Korea. The South 

11 Korean government stated that the attacks were in12 tended to cause a malfunction at the plants’ reac13 tors, and described the attacks as acts of ‘‘cyber-ter14 ror targeting our country’’. 

15 (9) On December 19, 2015, the Federal Bureau 

16 of Investigation (FBI) concluded that North Korea 

17 was responsible for a cyber attack on Sony Pictures 

18 Entertainment and a subsequent threat of violence 

19 against theaters that showed the film ‘‘The Inter20 view’’. The FBI concluded that the ‘‘Guardians of 

21 Peace’’, which sent the threat to Sony Pictures, was 

22 a unit of North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bu23 reau, its foreign intelligence service. 

24 (10) South Korean and Malaysian authorities 

25 have alleged that officials from North Korea’s secret 


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1 police and Foreign Ministry were involved in the poi2 soning and killing of the estranged half-brother of 

3 the country’s leader, Kim Jong-nam, using the 

4 chemical weapon VX nerve agent, a substance 

5 banned for use as a weapon by the United Nations 

6 Chemical Weapons Convention, on February 13, 

7 2017, in Kuala Lumpur. 

8 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 

9 Congress that the Government of North Korea should be 

10 designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. 

11 (c) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 days after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

13 State shall submit to the appropriate congressional com14 mittees a determination as to whether North Korea meets 

15 the criteria for designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. 

16 (d) FORM.—The report required by subsection (c) 

17 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include 

18 a classified annex, if appropriate. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means— 

24 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

25 the Senate; and 


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1 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

2 the House of Representatives. 

3 (2) FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.—The 

4 term ‘‘foreign terrorist organization’’ means an or5 ganization designated by the Secretary of State as a 

6 foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of 

7 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

8 1189). 

9 (3) NORTH KOREA.—The term ‘‘North Korea’’ 

10 means the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 

11 (4) STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM.—The term 

12 ‘‘state sponsor of terrorism’’ means a country the 

13 government of which the Secretary of State has de14 termined, for purposes of section 6(j) of the Export 

15 Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 4605(j)) (as 

16 in effect pursuant to the International Emergency 

17 Economic Powers Act), section 620A of the Foreign 

18 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371), section 40 

19 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780), 

20 or any other provision of law, is a government that 

21 has repeatedly provided support for acts of inter22 national terrorism. 

Æ 


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