U.S. reviewing relisting N. Korea as state sponsor of terrorism: State Dept.

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, July 31 (Yonhap) -- The United States said Friday it was reviewing
whether to relist North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism in connection with
North Korea's alleged proliferation of missile and nuclear technology in recent
months,
"There is a policy review going on," Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state
for public affairs, said in a daily news briefing. "I'm sure within that policy
review, certain elements of that are being debated. We continue to evaluate North
Korea in light of this provocative act."
"We are always reviewing and evaluating, you know, the countries of concern and
their performance when it comes to terrorism," he said. "And there is a legal
process that is required in statutes, whether you take a country off or whether
you put a country on."
Last week, the U.S. Senate adopted a resolution calling on President Barack
Obama???s administration to "assess the effectiveness" of relisting North Korea
as a state sponsor of terrorism.
The resolution calls for Obama to submit a report within 30 days on Pyongyang's
record on weapons of mass destruction proliferation and terrorism since it was
removed from the U.S. State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism in
October.
North Korea was first put on the terrorism list soon after it downed a South
Korean airplane over Myanmar in 1987, killing all 115 passengers. Its delisting
came in October 2008 and paved the way for a fresh round of multilateral nuclear
talks deadlocked for nearly a year.
U.S. officials have raised fresh concerns over North Korea's alleged nuclear and
missile technology transfer to Myanmar, formerly Burma.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week expressed "growing concerns"
over "military cooperation between North Korea and Burma, which we take very
seriously," hinting at the possible transfer of North Korean nuclear and missile
technology.
A North Korean cargo ship, possibly on its way to Myanmar, returned home recently
after a pursuit by U.S. Navy vessels operating under an interdiction mandate
imposed recently by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874, which was adopted in
early June after North Korea's second nuclear test on May 25.
The resolution bans the North from any further nuclear and ballistic missile
tests and imposes financial sanctions, an overall arms embargo and cargo
interdictions to head off the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by the
North.
While talks have surfaced recently over the possibility of relisting the North
due to the deepening nuclear dispute, U.S. officials and experts have said the
regime's nuclear and ballistic missile tests do not constitute terrorist acts and
thus do not meet the requirement for relisting the North.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's failing health and the succession of power have
been cited as factors behind the North's recent provocations amid reports that
Kim has named his third and youngest son, Jong-un, 26, as his heir.
North Korea recently demanded bilateral talks with the U.S. in lieu of the
six-party talks to address the standoff over the North's nuclear and missile
programs, with the U.S. rebuffing it by saying bilateral talks can be made only
in the six-party context.
Crowley cast doubt on reports that North Korea invited Stephen Bosworth, U.S.
special representative for North Korea policy, to discuss the two American
journalists held in Pyongyang for allegedly entering the North on the Chinese
border to report on North Korean refugees.
"I'm not sure that report is true," Crowley said. "But obviously, we have
indicated a willingness to engage North Korea if it comes back to the six-party
process and ceases its provocative actions."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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