A group U.S. lawmakers has called on Washington to put North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and the others made the request in a letter sent to Secretary of State John Kerry.

The group said North Korean rule under Kim Jong-un is the same as the past. They explained the torpedoing of the South Korean warship Cheonan, attempted assassination of former high-ranking North Korean official Hwang Jang-yop who defected to the South, and cooperation with Iran and Syria on technology related to weapons of mass destruction are grounds for reinstatement to the list.

Late last month, the State Department redesignated Iran, Syria, Cuba and Sudan as state sponsors of terrorism in its Country Reports on Terrorism 2012. North Korea hasn't made the list for five years in a row.