Manzullo: North Korea Remains "Just As Dangerous and Unstable" Under Kim Jong Un

Statement

U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, today said the miniscule glimmer of hope North Korea created in February when it announced a moratorium on nuclear activities faded dramatically with last week's failed missile launch.

Manzullo, who spoke during a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing today on the future of the Korean Peninsula, said North Korea "will remain just as dangerous and unstable" under the new leadership of Kim Jong Un as it had under the leadership of his father, the late Kim Jong Il.

"The future of North Korea is bleak, and it is the people of North Korea that will bear the unimaginable hardship of Kim Jong Un's tyranny," Manzullo said. "It is my firm belief that North Korea will never give up its nuclear weapons, because it is the weapons themselves that the regime is using to maintain its iron grip there."

Manzullo said the denuclearization of North Korea must continue to be a priority for the United States and its Six-Party partners. Manzullo was concerned, however, that last week's failed missile launch has pushed denuclearization of North Korea "further away than ever before."

"I commend the Administration for halting assistance to the North, and I encourage the President and the Secretary of State to stand firm against any further destabilizing actions," Manzullo added. "Furthermore, if North Korea proceeds with testing a nuclear weapon, as it likely may do if prior behavior is any indicator, then all members of the Six-Party Talks must forcefully condemn this behavior."

Source