North Korea would join Iran, Sudan and Syria if the president added the country to the list.
President Donald Trump’s administration was debating whether to put North Korea back on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, according to National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster. McMaster cited the apparent assassination of Kim Jong Un’s half-brother in February as part of the reason.
Kim Jong Nam died at a Malaysian airport in February after two women rushed toward him and seemingly attacked him. Malaysia did not directly accuse North Korea of murdering him, despite an autopsy showing he died of VX nerve poison. North Korea, for its part, denied allegations and said the man died of a heart attack.
“A regime who murders someone in a public airport using nerve agent a despotic leader who murders his brother in that manner, I mean, that’s clearly an act of terrorism that fits in with a range of other actions,” McMaster said in a briefing ahead of Trump’s first trip to Asia as president.
The United States currently has three countries on its “ State Sponsors of Terrorism ” list, according to the U. S. Department of State. Syria was designed in 1979, while Iran was designed in 1984 and Sudan was listed in 1993.
