U.S. House lawmakers have introduced a bill requiring the government to re-examine whether North Korea should be put back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying they believe the communist nation merits redesignation.

The bill (H.R.5208), submitted last week with Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) joining as a co-sponsor, listed about 20 cases involving North Korea, including its 1987 bombing of a South Korean jetliner and the 2014 cyberattack on Sony Pictures.

It requires the president to review the cases and submit a report to Congress on whether they meet the requirements for terror sponsor designation or give a detailed justification as to why the cases do not meet the criteria for such a determination.

"It is the sense of the Congress that North Korea meets the criteria for designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and should be so designated," the bill said.

North Korea was put on the U.S. terrorism sponsor list for the 1987 midair bombing of a Korean Airlines flight that killed all 115 people aboard. But the U.S. administration of former President George W. Bush removed Pyongyang from the list in 2008 in exchange for progress in denuclearization talks.

Calls grew for putting the North back on the list after Pyongyang was found to be responsible for the 2014 cyberattack on Sony Pictures. But the State Department did not do so, saying relisting would only be symbolic without big practical effects. (Yonhap)