U.S. House of Representatives on Friday overwhelmingly passed the bill with a 408-2 vote. The legislation was approved by the Senate earlier last week.
The measure also authorizes 10 million U.S. dollars annually over the course of five years for expanding DPRK people’s access to media and providing humanitarian assistance to refugees.
The move takes place after the DPRK said it had launched on Feb. 7 a Kwangmyongsong-4 Earth observation satellite into orbit earlier this month and tested what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb last month.
The U.S. has condemned the DPRK’s “destabilizing and provocative” actions and vowed to “take all necessary steps to defend ourselves and our allies.”
The UN Security Council had strongly condemned DPRK’s latest launch using ballistic missile technology, calling it a serious violation of Security Council resolutions.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at a meeting with South Korea’s foreign minister on Feb. 9, had expressed his deep concern about the negative impact of the DPRK’s recent acts on regional stability and wider disarmament and non-proliferation objectives.
Under UN Security Council resolutions, the DPRK is banned from firing any kind of ballistic missile. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
