I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 204 

To continue restrictions against and prohibit diplomatic recognition of the 

Government of North Korea, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2015 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. SALMON, Mr. CHABOT, 

and Mr. POE of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee 

on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To continue restrictions against and prohibit diplomatic recognition of the Government of North Korea, 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 Sanctions 

5 and Diplomatic Nonrecognition Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) On January 2, 2015, the President issued 

2 Executive Order 13687 imposing additional sanc3 tions with respect to North Korea which stated that 

4 ‘‘the provocative, destabilizing, and repressive ac5 tions and policies of the Government of North 

6 Korea, including its destructive, coercive cyber-re7 lated actions during November and December 2014, 

8 actions in violation of United Nations Security 

9 Council Resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087, and 2094, 

10 and commission of serious human rights abuses, 

11 constitute a continuing threat to the national secu12 rity, foreign policy, and economy of the United 

13 States’’. 

14 (2) On January 2, 2015, the Department of the 

15 Treasury stated that Executive Order 13687 was ‘‘in 

16 response to the Government of the Democratic Peo17 ple’s Republic of Korea’s numerous provocations, 

18 particularly the recent cyber-attack targeting Sony 

19 Pictures Entertainment and the threats against 

20 movie theaters and moviegoers’’. 

21 (3) On January 2, 2015, White House Press 

22 Secretary Josh Earnest stated that ‘‘[Executive 

23 Order 13687] is a response to the Government of 

24 North Korea’s ongoing provocative, destabilizing, 

25 and repressive actions and policies, particularly its 


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1 destructive and coercive cyber attack on Sony Pic2 tures Entertainment.’’. 

3 (4) On December 29, 2014, the Federal Bureau 

4 of Investigation stated that it ‘‘has concluded the 

5 Government of North Korea is responsible for the 

6 theft and destruction of data on the network of Sony 

7 Pictures Entertainment’’. 

8 (5) On December 19, 2014, the Federal Bureau 

9 of Investigation stated that it ‘‘has enough informa10 tion to conclude that the North Korean government 

11 is responsible’’ for the cyber attack targeting Sony 

12 Pictures Entertainment on November 22, 2014. 

13 (6) On July 30, 2014, the Department of the 

14 Treasury imposed sanctions on two North Korean 

15 shipping companies, and 18 of their vessels, that 

16 ‘‘attempted to import a concealed shipment of arms 

17 and related materiel from Cuba to the DPRK 

18 aboard the DPRK-flagged vessel Chong Chon Gang 

19 in July 2013’’. 

20 (7) On July 28, 2014, the United Nations Se21 curity Council’s DPRK Sanctions Committee sanc22 tioned the North Korea shipping company, Ocean 

23 Maritime Management Company, for its ‘‘key role in 

24 arranging the shipment of concealed arms and re25 lated materiel from Cuba to the DPRK in July 


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1 2013’’ and stated that the company ‘‘contributed to 

2 activities prohibited by the resolutions, namely the 

3 arms embargo imposed by resolution 1718 (2006), 

4 as modified by resolution 1874 (2009), and contrib5 uted to the evasion of the measures imposed by 

6 these resolutions’’. 

7 (8) On July 28, 2014, the United States Per8 manent Representative to the United Nations, 

9 Samantha Power, stated that the attempted arms 

10 shipment was a ‘‘cynical, outrageous and illegal at11 tempt by Cuba and North Korea to circumvent 

12 United Nations Sanctions prohibiting the export of 

13 weapons to North Korea’’ and that the United Na14 tions Security Council’s DPRK Sanctions Committee 

15 had ‘‘uncovered irrefutable facts that clearly prove 

16 Cuba and the DPRK’s intentions to violate sanc17 tions by employing highly sophisticated deception 

18 and obfuscation techniques, including Cuba’s false 

19 claims about the transaction being a routine repair 

20 effort when detected by Panamanian and UN au21 thorities’’. 

22 (9) North Korean negotiators in the Six-Party 

23 diplomatic process did not act in good faith by their 

24 refusal to agree to a transparent verification process 

25 for denuclearization consistent with ‘‘international 


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1 standards’’, including provisions for nuclear sam2 pling, following North Korea’s removal on October 

3 11, 2008, from the list of state sponsors of terrorism 

4 maintained by the Department of State. 

5 (10) International press reports indicate that 

6 North Korea has continued to provide support to 

7 Iran in the areas of missile technology and nuclear 

8 development and has provided Iran’s surrogates, 

9 Hezbollah and Hamas, with both missile technology 

10 and training in tunneling techniques with which to 

11 attack Israel, an ally of the United States. 

12 (11) International press reports indicate that 

13 North Korea was engaged for a number of years in 

14 assistance to Syria in the construction of a nuclear 

15 reactor in the Syrian desert which was destroyed in 

16 a strike by Israeli forces on September 6, 2007. 

17 (12) North Korean negotiators continue to 

18 refuse to address in a humane and sincere manner 

19 the issue of the abduction of civilians of Japan and 

20 the Republic of Korea, both allies of the United 

21 States, as well as the abductions of citizens from a 

22 number of other countries, including France, Leb23 anon, Romania, and Thailand. 

24 (13) Defectors coming out of North Korea have 

25 provided testimony that United States permanent 


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1 resident, Reverend Kim Dong-shik, the spouse and 

2 father of United States citizens, was tortured and 

3 murdered inside North Korea after his abduction by 

4 Pyongyang’s agents on the Chinese border in Janu5 ary 2000 and that his remains are currently being 

6 held at a military facility inside North Korea. 

7 (14) Congress authoritatively expressed its 

8 view, in section 202(b)(2) of the North Korean 

9 Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–333; 

10 22 U.S.C. 7832(b)(2)) that ‘‘United States non11 humanitarian assistance to North Korea shall be 

12 contingent on North Korea’s substantial progress’’ 

13 on human rights improvements, release of and ac14 counting for abductees, family reunification, reform 

15 of North Korea’s labor camp system, and the de16 criminalization of political expression, none of which 

17 has occurred. 

18 (15) Congress further authoritatively expressed 

19 its view, in section 2 of the North Korean Human 

20 Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Public Law 

21 110–346) that ‘‘human rights and humanitarian 

22 conditions inside North Korea are deplorable’’ and 

23 that ‘‘North Korean refugees remain acutely vulner24 able’’. 


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1 (16) Congress has determined that any missile 

2 test or launch conducted by North Korea would be 

3 in direct violation of United Nations Security Coun4 cil resolution 1695, adopted on July 16, 2006, which 

5 ‘‘condemns the multiple launches by the DPRK 

6 (North Korea) of ballistic missiles on July 5 2006 

7 local time’’, and United Nations Security Council 

8 Resolution 1718, adopted on October 9, 2006, which 

9 ‘‘demands that the DPRK (North Korea) not con10 duct any further nuclear test or launch of a ballistic 

11 missile’’ and ‘‘decides that the DPRK shall suspend 

12 all activities related to its ballistic missile pro13 gramme and in this context re-establish its pre-exist14 ing commitments to a moratorium on missile launch15 ing’’, and further determines that the resulting sanc16 tions imposed under such resolution 1718 would 

17 again come into full effect following a missile test or 

18 launch. 

19 (17) Congress has further determined that a re20 turn by North Korea to the Six-Party diplomatic 

21 process following any missile test or launch by 

22 Pyongyang must include a firm and transparent 

23 commitment to the complete, verifiable and irrevers24 ible dismantlement of all of North Korea’s nuclear 


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1 programs, including those derived both from pluto2 nium as well as highly enriched uranium. 

3 (18) Japanese press reports have indicated that 

4 a delegation of approximately fifteen Iranian missile 

5 experts arrived in North Korea in March 2009 ‘‘to 

6 help Pyongyang prepare for a rocket launch’’, in7 cluding senior officials with the Iranian rocket and 

8 satellite producer Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, 

9 and that they brought with them a letter from their 

10 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to North Korean 

11 leader Kim Jong-Il stressing the importance of co12 operating on space technology. 

13 (19) North Korea, in defiance of the inter14 national community’s efforts to end nuclear pro15 liferation and in violation of its international obliga16 tions, conducted a second underground nuclear test 

17 on May 25, 2009 (local time), in violation of United 

18 Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, which re19 sulted in the passage of United Nations Security 

20 Council Resolution 1874 on June 12, 2009, which 

21 imposed additional sanctions and inspection require22 ments with regard to North Korea. 

23 (20) North Korea, according to Western press 

24 reports, transshipped missile parts, used to run 

25 Iran’s solid fuel ballistic missile program, to Tehran 


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1 via Air Iran flights which landed in Beijing, China 

2 in 2007. 

3 (21) Press reports in March 2011 indicated 

4 that opposition forces in Libya, when they took posi5 tions from Qaddafi forces, discovered North Korean 

6 weapons caches, including rockets and anti-aircraft 

7 guns, unpacked from crates labeled ‘‘bulldozer 

8 parts,’’ which would represent a clear violation of 

9 United Nations sanctions. 

10 (22) On August 16, 2012, the President signed 

11 into law the Ambassador James R. Lilley and Con12 gressman Stephen J. Solarz North Korea Human 

13 Rights Reauthorization Act of 2012 (Public Law 

14 112–172). 

15 (23) Congress further authoritatively expressed 

16 its view in section 2 of Public Law 112–172 that 

17 ‘‘although the transition to the leadership of Kim 

18 Jong-Un after the death of Kim Jong-Il has intro19 duced new uncertainties and possibilities, the funda20 mental human rights and humanitarian conditions 

21 inside North Korea remain deplorable, North Ko22 rean refugees remain acutely vulnerable, and the 

23 findings in the 2004 Act and 2008 Reauthorization 

24 remain substantially accurate today’’. 


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1 (24) Notwithstanding the succession of Kim 

2 Jong-Un as supreme leader of North Korea fol3 lowing the death of his father in December 2011, 

4 Pyongyang has continued a policy of horrendous 

5 human rights violations, including the issuance of 

6 new ‘‘shoot to kill’’ orders for refugees attempting to 

7 cross the border into China and an increased reli8 ance on public executions to intimidate the North 

9 Korean populace. 

10 (25) The new Kim Jong-Un regime also dis11 played duplicity in its negotiations with the United 

12 States and other Six-Party partners by launching a 

13 missile in April 2012 in direct violation of its ‘‘Leap 

14 Day Agreement’’ to carry out a moratorium on nu15 clear and long-range missile tests. 

16 (26) Pyongyang defied the international com17 munity and relevant United Nations Security Coun18 cil resolutions by launching a long-range missile on 

19 December 12, 2012, resulting in the unanimous pas20 sage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 

21 2087 on January 22, 2013. 

22 (27) The regime in Pyongyang further defied 

23 the international community and relevant United 

24 Nations Security Council resolutions by conducting a 

25 nuclear test on February 12, 2013. 


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1 (28) According to the United States Geological 

2 Survey, seismic activity was detected in North Korea 

3 with an earthquake measuring 4.9 magnitude, larger 

4 than the 2006 and 2009 explosions, and the epi5 center of the quake was close to a North Korean nu6 clear test site. 

7 SEC. 3. CONTINUATION OF RESTRICTIONS AGAINST THE 

8 GOVERNMENT OF NORTH KOREA. 

9 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that subsequent to the 

10 decision of the Secretary of State on October 11, 2008, 

11 to rescind the designation of North Korea as a state spon12 sor of terrorism, North Korea has committed acts that can 

13 be defined as international terrorism or as highly provoca14 tive, including— 

15 (1) the dispatch of a covert team of two North 

16 Korean military-trained agents to South Korea with 

17 orders to assassinate the late North Korean defector 

18 Hwang Jang-yop who were apprehended by South 

19 Korean officials in April 2010; 

20 (2) complicity in the sinking of the South Ko21 rean naval vessel Cheonan on March 26, 2010, 

22 which resulted in the deaths of 46 South Korean 

23 naval personnel; 

24 (3) the shipment of weapons by North Korea, 

25 seized in Bangkok in December 2009, which were 


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1 bound for delivery to foreign terrorist organizations 

2 Hezbollah and Hamas, according to a statement 

3 made by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman 

4 in Tokyo on May 12, 2010; 

5 (4) the sudden and unprovoked bombardment 

6 by North Korean artillery of the civilian-populated 

7 South Korean island of Yeonpyeong-do on November 

8 23, 2010, which resulted in the deaths of two South 

9 Korean civilians and two Republic of Korea (ROK) 

10 marines; 

11 (5) the sentencing by Seoul Central District 

12 Court in January 2011 of North Korean agent Ri 

13 Dong Sam to 10 years in prison for impersonating 

14 a refugee in August 2010 to enter South Korea 

15 under orders to assassinate leading North Korean 

16 defector Hwang Jang-yop; and 

17 (6) North Korea’s ‘‘numerous provocations, 

18 particularly the recent cyber-attack targeting Sony 

19 Pictures Entertainment and the threats against 

20 movie theaters and moviegoers,’’ as described by the 

21 Department of the Treasury on January 2, 2015. 

22 (b) CONTINUATION OF RESTRICTIONS.—Notwith23 standing the decision by the Secretary of State on October 

24 11, 2008, to rescind the designation of North Korea as 

25 a state sponsor of terrorism, and in light of the congresVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:05 Jan 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H204.IH H204

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1 sional finding described in subsection (a), restrictions 

2 against the Government of North Korea that were im3 posed by reason of a determination of the Secretary of 

4 State that the Government of North Korea is a state spon5 sor of terrorism, as well as sanctions against the Govern6 ment of North Korea (including sanctions that ban the 

7 importation into the United States of North Korean prod8 ucts and goods), that are in effect as of the date of the 

9 enactment of this Act shall remain in effect, and shall not 

10 be lifted, unless the President makes the certification de11 scribed in subsection (c). 

12 (c) CERTIFICATION.—The certification referred to in 

13 subsection (b) is a certification to Congress containing a 

14 determination of the President that the Government of 

15 North Korea— 

16 (1) is no longer engaged in the illegal transfer 

17 of missile or nuclear technology, particularly to the 

18 governments of Iran, Syria, or any other state spon19 sor of terrorism, or to Burma; 

20 (2) is no longer engaged in training in combat 

21 operations or tunneling, or harboring, supplying, fi22 nancing, or supporting in any way— 

23 (A) Hamas, Hezbollah, the Japanese Red 

24 Army, or any member of such organizations; 


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1 (B) any organization designated by the 

2 Secretary of State as a foreign terrorist organi3 zation in accordance with section 219(a) of the 

4 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

5 1189(a)); and 

6 (C) any person included on the annex to 

7 Executive Order 13224 (September 21, 2001) 

8 and any other person identified under section 1 

9 of that Executive Order whose property and in10 terests are blocked by that section (commonly 

11 known as a ‘‘specially designated global ter12 rorist’’); 

13 (3) is no longer engaged in the counterfeiting of 

14 United States currency ‘‘supernotes’’; 

15 (4) is no longer engaged in the international 

16 trafficking of illicit narcotics into the United States, 

17 Japan, Australia, or other allied countries of the 

18 United States; 

19 (5) has returned the last remains of United 

20 States permanent resident, Reverend Kim Dong21 shik, to his United States citizen family and church 

22 members, so that he may be provided with a proper 

23 Christian burial in Chicago; 

24 (6) has released the Japanese nationals recog25 nized as abduction victims by the Government of 


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1 Japan as well as abduction victims recognized by the 

2 Government of the Republic of Korea; 

3 (7) has released an estimated 600 surviving 

4 South Korean POWs, and any other surviving 

5 POWs from the Korean War, who have been held in 

6 North Korea against their will and in violation of 

7 the Armistice Agreement since hostilities ended in 

8 July 1953; 

9 (8) has made concrete provisions for unre10 stricted family reunification meetings for those indi11 viduals among the two-million strong Korean-Amer12 ican community who maintain family ties with rel13 atives inside North Korea; 

14 (9) has opened the North Korean penal system, 

15 including the gulag of concentration camps holding 

16 an estimated 200,000 political and religious pris17 oners, to unrestricted and regular visits by rep18 resentatives of the International Committee of the 

19 Red Cross (ICRC); 

20 (10) has made provision for unrestricted and 

21 regular access by representatives of the United Na22 tional High Commissioner for Refugees to refugees 

23 forcibly repatriated to North Korea to determine 

24 their general health and welfare; 


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1 (11) has made concrete provisions for unre2 stricted contact, including direct communications 

3 and meetings, between representatives of inter4 national and South Korean religious organizations, 

5 including Christians and Buddhists, and their co-be6 lievers inside North Korea; 

7 (12) has offered apologies to the government 

8 and people of the Republic of Korea for the deaths 

9 that North Korea inflicted due to the unprovoked at10 tacks on the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan on 

11 March 26, 2010, and on the island of Yeonpyeong12 do on November 23, 2010; and 

13 (13) is no longer engaged in cyber-attacks 

14 against the United States, its government, infra15 structure, entities, or citizens, or those of its allies. 

16 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that, in light of the congressional finding described 

18 in subsection (a), the Secretary of State should redesig19 nate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism imme20 diately upon the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 (e) STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM DEFINED.—In 

22 this section, the term ‘‘state sponsor of terrorism’’ means 

23 any country the government of which the Secretary of 

24 State determines has repeatedly provided support for acts 

25 of international terrorism pursuant to section 6(j) of the 


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1 Export Administration Act of 1979 (as continued in effect 

2 pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Pow3 ers Act), section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, sec4 tion 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, or any 

5 other provision of law. 

6 SEC. 4. CONTINUATION OF DIPLOMATIC NONRECOGNITION 

7 OF NORTH KOREA. 

8 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the United States 

9 did not grant diplomatic recognition to North Korea upon 

10 its establishment as a client regime of the former Soviet 

11 Union in 1948. The United States has consistently contin12 ued to withhold such formal diplomatic recognition during 

13 the 61 years since the sudden and unprovoked attack by 

14 North Korean forces on the Republic of Korea on June 

15 25, 1950, an attack which led directly to the Korean War 

16 and the deaths of over 36,000 United States military per17 sonnel as well as at least 2,000,000 Koreans and over 

18 3,000 soldiers from Allied countries. 

19 (b) CONTINUATION OF DIPLOMATIC NONRECOGNI20 TION.—No funds may be expended for the establishment 

21 of a United States diplomatic presence in North Korea, 

22 including an Embassy, Consulate, or liaison office, until 

23 such time as the President certifies to Congress that the 

24 Government of North Korea has met all of the bench25 marks specified in section 3. 


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1 SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO A NORTH KOREAN 

2 MISSILE LAUNCH OR NUCLEAR TEST. 

3 Given North Korea’s third nuclear weapons test on 

4 February 12, 2013, in violation of United Nations Secu5 rity Council Resolutions 1695, 1718, 1874, and 2087, the 

6 President shall instruct the United States Permanent 

7 Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, 

8 vote, and influence of the United States to secure adoption 

9 of a United Nations Security Council resolution con10 demning North Korea’s action as a violation of United Na11 tions Security Council Resolutions 1695, 1718, 1874, and 

12 2087 and requiring the implementation of comprehensive 

13 sanctions and an inspection regime against North Korea. 

Æ 


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