Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio called Thursday for putting North Korea back on to the U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism in response to the communist nation's fourth nuclear test.

"We have to do everything we can to ensure that they have less money to spend on these sorts of programs. So that's why a state sponsor of terror, they should be returned to that list," Rubio said in an interview with Fox Business Network.

"They were once on that list. They were removed from that list as a concession. They need to be put back on," he said.

Rubio also called for measures to "go after the assets"

overseas of the North's leadership.

North Korea was put on the U.S. terrorism sponsor list for the

1987 midair bombing of a Korean Air flight that killed all 115 people aboard. But the administration of former President George W.

Bush removed Pyongyang from the list in 2008 in exchange for progress in denuclearization talks. (Yonhap)