North Korea has already kicked off 2016 with defiance, brazenly claiming to have tested a hydrogen bomb last month and then launching a long-range rocket only weeks later.  The United States and the international community swiftly condemned these actions.

Congress Addresses Cyber-Attacks, Human Rights Violations

With new legislation, lawmakers are taking steps to address North Korea’s belligerent actions.  In recent days, the Senate and House of Representatives have passed bipartisan legislation to expand sanctions on North Korea’s nuclear program and create a unified, comprehensive strategy for dealing with the threats it poses.  The continuous misconduct of the Kim Jong Un regime, including the apparent pursuit of a nuclear warhead that could strike the United States, is a national security issue of the highest order.  Congress’s plan is the least we can do to target North Korea’s nuclear program, cyber-attacks, and abysmal human rights record.

Administration’s ‘Strategic Patience’ Has Failed

There is a need for stronger U.S. leadership.  The Obama Administration’s passive approach to North Korea has only allowed the authoritarian state’s nuclear ambitions to grow.  After multiple nuclear tests, any lingering hope in the President’s policy of “strategic patience” has faded.  Without broader sanctions, North Korea will continue to fulfill its nuclear aims by facilitating money and weapons through China.

North Korea has repeatedly acted in bad faith, strengthening its military might despite negotiations with the Clinton Administration in the ’90s and exploiting a starving population to receive food aid.  Not surprisingly, North Korea’s growing aggression seems to have continued unabated during the Obama Administration’s much-touted defense pivot from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific.  This strategy, initiated in 2012, was supposed help achieve greater security and constructive engagement in the region.  North Korea’s bad behavior and the reluctance of China to stand with the United States on this issue suggest otherwise.

Sanctions are the next step after years of misguided policy from the Obama Administration and unmet promises from North Korea.  The Kim regime’s actions have the potential to destabilize the region and the world.  Director of National Intelligence James Clapper recently told the Senate Armed Services Committee that North Korea could start recovering plutonium for nuclear weapons within weeks or months.  As North Korea’s technical capabilities advance and nuclear facilities are restarted, some estimate that it could have as many as 100 bombs by 2020. 

Accountability Extends to North Korea’s Accomplices

The world is carefully watching.  Our Pacific allies like Japan and South Korea, where tens of thousands of U.S. troops serve, are rightly concerned about North Korea’s burgeoning nuclear capabilities.  Meanwhile, rogue nations around the world, such as Iran, will no doubt take note of how the United States decides to confront Kim’s international violations.

Lawmakers from both political parties are sending a message to Pyongyang and those who continue to help build up its arsenal, oppress its people, and carry out vicious cyber-attacks.  Under the new legislation, the President would have the authority to impose sanctions on individuals and businesses associated with these offenses.  Accountability should not stop with the Kim regime but all those who contribute to its criminal network.