Opening Statement - North Korea’s Perpetual Provocations: Another Dangerous, Escalatory Nuclear Test

Chairman Salmon’s Opening Statement
As Prepared for Delivery

Committee on Foreign Affairs - Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
“North Korea’s Perpetual Provocations: Another Dangerous, Escalatory Nuclear Test”
Wednesday, September 14, 2016 | 3:00 pm

Last Friday, North Korea conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test to date.  This latest provocation coming just weeks after they fired off three additional missiles during the G20 summit in China.  While U.S. and United Nations sanctions have undoubtedly hurt the North Korean economy, Kim Jong Un continues to willingly and belligerently defy U.N. Security Council Resolutions as well as international norms.  Clearly, he is not fazed by the Administration’s so-called plan of “strategic patience” and so continues with his child-like behavior that endangers much of the world.  The House Committee on Foreign Affairs, under the leadership of Chairman Royce, has taken the lead to address this intransigence.  While we have already taken bold steps in increasing sanctions, clearly more must be done.  We are here today to identify and work toward proactive policy solutions that will put an end to the provocations of this rogue regime.  Enough is enough. 

As good as the additional sanctions have been, without China’s enforcement it will never be enough.  I would like to hear from our panel on how best to engage China on this issue.  As we know, China prefers the status quo in North Korea rather than risk a flood of North Korean refugees and a shared border with the Korea-U.S. alliance.  Some experts even worry that China may use its enforcement of U.N. Security Council Resolutions and diplomatic assistance as a wedge, forcing South Korea to choose between China and the United States as its main partner on the peninsula.  The international community at large is alarmed at China’s indifference to date over North Korean provocations, especially with nuclear detonations so near its own border.  Even North Korea’s willingness to embarrass China by upstaging the G20 ceremonies with a nuclear test has not yet led to real action by China.

The Administration has appeared to make some progress on our trilateral engagement with Korea and Japan – our two closest allies in East Asia.  The House recently passed my legislation to encourage further dialogue and cooperation between our nations, with particular emphasis towards the North Korean threat.  I will be very interested to hear from our panel on the potential for further cooperation with South Korea and Japan and how we might best work together to address North Korea’s dangerous behavior.

The United States recently convened its annual joint military exercises with South Korea.  The U.S. flew two bombers over South Korea to provide some reassurance to our friends in Seoul, but I am not so sure these messages resonate with Pyongyang.  We all know that there are few options to instill real change from within North Korea, but waiting it out will not solve anything; we need a proactive approach. 

Most agree that getting information to the people of North Korea – unfiltered by the regime – would greatly benefit the people of North Korea and aid efforts to diminish the stranglehold Kim has over the nation.  I have legislation that passed through this Subcommittee that would provide an overdue update and enhancement of these efforts.  Boosting the information flow into North Korea would cripple Kim Jong Un where he is most vulnerable: reality.

Again, sanctions efforts have been a huge focus in Congress, but due to China’s lack of resolve, they seem to have had little practical effect. I would like to determine what we can do to take it to the next level; what other chokepoints can we squeeze to shut off funding for North Korea’s nuclear ambitions?  Cutting off access to financial messaging systems such as SWIFT was a successful strategy to induce compliance with Iran, and we should pursue the same strategy towards North Korea.  The rogue regime should not have access to the international financial system.  As if its other activities weren’t reason enough to cut off its financial messaging access, North Korea has been identified as the likely culprit of a serious hack on SWIFT earlier this year, in which the culprits stole $81 million from Bangladesh’s Central Bank.  For that reason, I am working on legislation to end North Korea’s access to interbank financial transfers to prevent further abuses and reduce funding to North Korea’s nuclear program.

Time and again, North Korea has proven that so long as it is able, it will continue to work to advance its nuclear program – for both internal domestic strength, as well as international bargaining power.  While the United States has shown a willingness to negotiate with North Korea when it takes even modest steps toward denuclearization, North Korea has shown no interest in maintaining international norms.  This cycle cannot continue, and we cannot “strategically wait” with a potential catastrophe looming.  I look forward to a frank discussion with our witnesses on what to do next with this rogue regime.