Washington, D.C.—Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior Republican in the United States Senate, issued the following statement after voting in support of the the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act:

“This important piece of legislation tightens the ring of deterrence against a regime that continues to defy international law,” Hatch said. “This bill’s objective is not to needlessly interfere in the affairs of a foreign nation.  Rather, it is to provide a tool to force an aggressor into compliance with international law and to deter North Korea from committing hostile acts, not only against the United States and its allies, but also against the North Korean people.  I urge the prompt passage of this legislation.” 

Background

On January 6th, the North Korean regime conducted a subterranean nuclear weapons test, claiming to have detonated a hydrogen bomb for the first time. Even Russia decried the test as “a flagrant violation of international law and existing UN Security Council resolutions.”  This past weekend, a North Korean satellite launched on Sunday passed almost directly over the stadium where the Super Bowl was played an hour after the game, according to press reports. The pattern of closely pairing a nuclear test with rocket launches began in 2006, when the regime fired seven ballistic missiles, including the long-range Taepo Dong-2. Three months later, North Korea conducted its first underground nuclear test.

These acts prompted the UN Security Council to adopt, under Chapter VII, Resolution 1695—condemning the missile launch—and Resolution 1718—demanding that North Korea refrain from further nuclear tests and imposing sanctions on the regime.

Once again, in 2009, North Korea carried out a virtually identical pairing of rocket and nuclear tests.  In April of that year, the rogue state launched a three-stage Unha-2 rocket. One month later, Pyongyang conducted another underground nuclear test. This second round of nuclear and rocket tests elicited UN Security Council Resolution 1874, which expanded sanctions, intensified inspections to prevent proliferation, and barred further missile tests.

Pyongyang repeated its weapon and rocket pairing in late 2012 and early 2013.  Specifically, in December 2012, the newly-installed Kim Jung-un ordered the launch of another Unha-3 rocket. Two months later, North Korea conducted another underground nuclear test. The UN Security Council responded in kind with Resolution 2087—strengthening sanctions related to the missile launch—and Resolution 2094—tweaking sanctions related to North Korea’s nuclear program.

In addition to the now-cyclical pairing of rocket launches and nuclear tests, North Korea has consistently flouted international law and UN Charters .  For example, North Korea has directly violated both the Korean Armistice Agreement and Article 2 of the UN Charter by taking kinetic military action against South Korea.

In 2010 alone, North Korean forces sunk a South Korean patrol ship—according to a multinational commission that investigated the incident—and separately fired artillery rounds at a South Korean island, killing two Korean Marines and injuring seventeen others.

North Korea has also been guilty of repeated acts of proliferation to rogue states around the world. The Washington Post and the New York Times reported that, in 2004, Libya received uranium hexafluoride of suspected North Korean origin. Similarly, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence revealed that North Korea assisted the Assad regime in constructing a nuclear reactor in northern Syria that Israeli forces destroyed in 2007.