World | North Korea Trump to Declare North Korea a State Sponsor of Terrorism White House cites killing of Kim Jong Un's half brother as one example By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Nov 20, 2017 11:20 AM CST Copied In this Aug. 10, 2017, photo, a man watches a TV screen showing President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program in Seoul, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) President Trump said Monday that he intends to declare North Korea a state sponsor of terror. Trump called the move a long overdue step and part of the US "maximum pressure campaign" against Pyongyang, per the AP. North Korea was last on the US list of state sponsors of terror in 2008, when the country was removed in a bid to salvage a deal to halt its nuclear development. Iran, Sudan, and Syria are also designated by the US as state sponsors of terror. US officials cited the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's estranged half brother in a Malaysian airport earlier this year as an act of terrorism. The designation had been debated for months inside the administration, with some officials at the State Department arguing that North Korea didn't meet the legal standard to be relisted as a state sponsor of terrorism. Officials said there was no debate over whether the slaying of half brother Kim Jong Nam was a terrorist act. However, lawyers said there had to be more than one incident, and there was disagreement over whether the treatment of American student Otto Warmbier, who died of injuries suffered in North Korean custody, constituted terrorism. Read These Next Gavin Newsom has filed a massive lawsuit against Fox News. Supreme Court is a yes on age checks for porn sites. President Trump celebrates a 'giant' Supreme Court win. Actor Sam Rockwell gets residuals from movie he wasn't in. Get breaking news in your inbox. What you need to know, as soon as we know it. Sign up Report an error