U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Committee News

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Ros-Lehtinen Statement on North Korean Aggression

(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement today regarding North Korea’s military attack on a South Korean island which resulted in at least two deaths:

“This unprovoked attack by North Korea against its democratic neighbor is but the latest example of Pyongyang’s increasingly aggressive posture. It comes on the heels of news reports about clandestine nuclear activities by the North Korean regime and a United Nations report of North Korean proliferation to other pariah states such as Iran, Syria, and Burma. Considered together, it is even more obvious that North Korea poses a serious threat to U.S. security interests and allies in the region.

“As with the attack earlier this year on the South Korean warship Cheonan, the United States must stand firmly with our steadfast ally South Korea during this crisis.

“As North Korea has ratcheted up its aggression over the past two years, I am concerned that the U.S. response has been too weak. This may have led Pyongyang to calculate that it can get away with even more. The U.S. must move to immediately re-list North Korea as a state-sponsor of terrorism and call on all responsible nations to adopt tough new sanctions on the North Korea regime.

“China, which wields significant influence over North Korea, must stop enabling the regime and join responsible nations in sending an unequivocal message to Pyongyang: abandon your aggressive agenda now.”

#####