Donald Trump has said he intends to declare North Korea a state sponsor of terror.
The US President today said that adding the region to a list of areas America views as a threat will impose further penalties on the country.
He called it a long overdue step and part of the US "maximum pressure campaign" against the North.
The move returns North Korea to the list of countries the US views as state sponsors of terror for the first time since 2008.
That was when the North was removed in a bid to salvage a deal to halt its nuclear development.
US officials cited the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's estranged half brother in a Malaysian airport this year as an act of terrorism.
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North Korea would join Iran, Sudan and Syria on the list of state sponsors of terror.
The revelation came days after a top US nuclear commander told an international security forum he would resist Mr if he ordered an "illegal" nuclear weapons strike.
Air Force general John Hyten, a commander of the US Strategic Command, spoke at the Halifax international security forum in Nova Scotia, in Canada, on Saturday.
Responding to a question on Mr Trump's threats of nuclear war with North Korea, Mr Hyten said: "I provide advice to the president, and he will tell me what to do.
"And if it's illegal, guess what's going to happen? I'm going to say 'Mr President, that's illegal.' And guess what he's going to do?
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"He's going to say, 'What would be legal?' And we'll come up with options, often a mix of capabilities to respond to whatever the situation is.
"That's the way it works. It's not complicated. If you execute an unlawful order, you will go to jail. You could go to jail for the rest of your life."
Trump has traded insults with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in recent months, branding him his "little rocket man".
Some US senators are demanding changes to the president's executive authority to launch nuclear strikes.
Additional reporting by Press Association.