Washington, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) announced the following upcoming committee event:

Wednesday, January 17
Joint Subcommittee Hearing: More Than a Nuclear Threat: North Korea’s Chemical, Biological, and Conventional Weapons

2 p.m. on Wednesday, January 17, in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building

Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), Chairman

Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL), Chairman

Invited witnesses include:

Anthony Cordesman, Ph.D.
Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy
Center for Strategic and International Studies

Mr. John Parachini
Director
Intelligence Policy Center
RAND Corporation

Mr. Anthony Ruggiero
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Chairman Poe on the hearing: “The rapid progress of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs have dominated international attention as the regime continues to provocatively defy calls to halt its destabilizing behavior. However, this should not cause us to miss other significant threats emanating from the North that could open new risks to the U.S. and its allies, be proliferated to other rogue actors, or limit our options to resolve the ongoing nuclear crisis. To effectively address the full threat from North Korea, we must know the extent of the regime’s chemical, biological, and conventional weapon programs. This hearing will examine the status of these dangers and how we can tailor policies to disrupt their progress in conjunction with their nuclear and missile development.”

Chairman Yoho on the hearing: “The danger North Korea poses to the world is more than just its rogue nuclear program and ballistic missile brinksmanship; Pyongyang develops other weapons of mass destruction, and maintains imposing conventional military capabilities. Pyongyang is thought to have a stockpile of thousands of metric tons of chemical weapons, which can be used on Seoul at a moment’s notice, and recent reports indicate a burgeoning biological weapons program. Just last year, North Korean agents assassinated Kim Jong Un’s half-brother with VX nerve agent, prompting the long overdue relisting of North Korea as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and reminding the world that Kim is ready and willing to use such heinous tools. What’s more, despite heavy financial sanctions, North Korea still fields the world’s fourth largest army, with over one million personnel in the country’s armed forces. In this hearing, the Subcommittees will discuss these aspects of the threat, which are too often overlooked amid North Korea’s headline-grabbing rocketry.”

 

***See www.foreignaffairs.house.gov for updates.

***Coverage note: All Foreign Affairs Committee proceedings are webcast live at www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/live-feed.

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