The Pacific a Subcommittee on East Asia

The Persistent Threat of North Korea and Developing an Effective U.S. Response The Pacific a Subcommittee on East Asia

The threat from North Korea's missile programs has posed a serious challenge to the last four administrations. The United Nations has taken action. They have passed Security Council Resolution 2270, and it was our hope that China, working with the Republic of Korea, the United States, Japan, and others in the international community, that we would be able to put sufficient pressure on North Korea to change its behavior. That has not happened. So despite all of our efforts, the current policy is not deterring North Korea's activities in acquiring greater nuclear weapon capacity. So the question today is what more do we do. How can the administration, working with Congress, provide the leadership internationally to change North Korea's activities? We know we need to have more effective action by China. What will it take to get China to really exercise the leverage it has over North Korea to change that behavior? North Korea's current trend presents not just a security challenge to the Korean Peninsula, not just a security challenge to that region of the world, but directly to the United States. What plans do we have in order to protect the security of our allies, as well as our own security, as a result of North Korea's activities?