US House approves legislation significantly tightening sanctions on N. Korea

Introduced in March by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the bipartisan legislation passed the committee the following week in an indication of the seriousness with which Congress views North Korean threats.

It has to pass through the Senate before it becomes law.

The legislation is aimed largely at restricting the North's trade and drying up key revenue sources, such as labor exports, which the regime in Pyongyang uses to fund its pursue of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the US

The bill also prohibits "any ships owned by the government of North Korea or owned or operated on behalf of any country not complying with UN Security Council resolutions from operating in United States waters or landing at any US port."

It also bans "goods produced in whole or part by North Korean forced labor from entering the United States, and sanctions foreign persons that employ North Koreans who are forced to labor in inhumane conditions and are denied access to wages and benefits.

The legislation authorizes sanctions on those providing the North with crude oil and other related products, and requires the US administration to determine whether the North is a state sponsor of terrorism.

"North Korea poses an urgent threat to the United States and our allies. In less than four years, the regime may be capable of targeting the entire US homeland with a nuclear missile," Royce said in a statement after the bill's passage.

"The threat from North Korea is real, and real threats demand real responses. This bill gives the administration a powerful tool to cut off North Korea's funding by going after those who do business with the regime," he said.

South Korea's foreign ministry said that the latest move is the US Congress' expression of its resolve to sternly deal with North Korea's nuclear problems.

"The legislation will serve as an alarm for North Korea, which is ignoring the international community's call for denuclearization," a ministry official said. "We think that the move will lay the ground for prodding North Korea into changing its course of pursuing nuclear weapons.

On the bill awaiting the Senate's review, the official added that the government will make efforts to help Congress handle North Korea's nuclear issue under bipartisan support. (Yonhap)