Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), the incoming Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, released the following statement in reaction to North Korea’s planned multistage rocket launch in the coming weeks.

“The Kim regime, with its long history of proliferation in South Asia and the Middle East, continues to be a grave threat to peace and security in Northeast Asia.

“The Kim regime continues to plow millions into its military — while its people starve,” said Royce.

The technology used in a satellite rocket is largely similar to that used in a long range missile. North Korea is prohibited by United Nations sanctions from developing long-range missile capability.

North Korea last attempted a missile launch eight months ago. Published reports indicate that North Korea’s proliferation world-wide continues unabated.

“I’ve been calling for a North Korea policy with ‘energy, creativity and focus.’ Instead, the Obama Administration’s approach continues to be unimaginative and moribund. We can either take a new approach, or sit back and watch the North Korean threat grow. This should be yet another wake-up call,” concluded Royce.

In April, writing on his Foreign Intrigue blog post entitled, “Launch a Policy Change,” Royce wrote:

“A policy tackling North Korea’s illicit activities and otherwise weakening the regime is the only way to make the Korean Peninsula secure. Until it was dropped in favor of failed diplomacy in 2006, the Treasury Department went after North Korea’s ill-gotten gains parked in a Macau bank, putting the brakes on North Korea’s counterfeiting of U.S. currency and cutting the flow of hard currency to the regime. That and more could be done now. But it would require energy, creativity and focus.”

North Korea plans to conduct its launch sometime between December 10 to 22. The one year anniversary of Kim Jong-Il is December 17. Democratic South Korea holds a presidential election December 19.