U.S. retains N.K. on terrorism list but reaffirms possible removal

YONHAP - The United States on Wednesday retained North Korea on its list of terrorism-sponsoring states, but reaffirmed in stronger language its commitment to remove the communist regime once Pyongyang fulfills its denuclearization obligations.

On South Korea, the annually announced report expressed satisfaction with Seoul's law enforcement and intelligence capabilities, and said it remains a valuable partner in the fight against terror financing and money laundering.

The report, which assesses developments in 2007, does not mention the U.S. announcement last week that North Korea helped Syria, another country designated for abetting terrorism, build a covert nuclear reactor.

But a State Department official said the U.S. was looking into the recent revelation, including whether that is "valid" information.

"We are looking very carefully at those situations with our intelligence analysts, ensure we got the right information as to whether those are valid or not," said Dell Dailey, coordinator of the Office for Counterterrorism, at a press briefing on the report.

"We are not certain yet that is valid information. Some of it is unfolding as we speak."

The report, titled "Country Reports on Terrorism," has been closely watched in recent years after the U.S. offered to take the North off the list as one of the incentives for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons and programs under six-nation agreements.

South and North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan are members of the six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea was put on the list, joining Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria, in January 1988 after its agents bombed a South Korean airliner in November the preceding year. All 115 people aboard the plane were killed.

The report said North Korea is not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since then.

Getting off the list is one of Pyongyang's most coveted benefits, since it would lift wide-ranging prohibitions that effectively restrict economic assistance and diplomatic interchanges.

After striking a deal in September 2005, under which Pyongyang agreed to eventually abandon its nuclear programs, the U.S. toned down the segment on North Korea by striking out detailed accounts of the country's past abductions of Japanese citizens.

This year, the report gave more emphasis to the U.S. commitment to delist Pyongyang once conditions are met.

"As part of the six-party talks process, the United States reaffirmed its intent to fulfill its commitments regarding the removal of the designation of DPRK as a state sponsor of terrorism in parallel with the DPRK's actions on denuclearization and in accordance with criteria set forth in U.S. law," said the report.

DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

Last year's report said the U.S. agreed to "begin the process" of removing North Korea from the list.

But the U.S. intelligence assessment, made public last week, of the North Korea-Syria nuclear connection has complicated the circumstances. Critics, including those in Congress, argue that Pyongyang cannot be trusted and insist that the U.S. exert more pressure on the regime, which allegedly had nuclear experts in Syria as recently as last fall, to help clean up what the U.S. believes was a reactor that was destroyed by an Israeli air raid in September.

This year's report does not mention the issue.

On South Korea, the report said the country has broadened its attention to terrorism beyond the Korean Peninsula "and continued its active participation in regional training and capacity-building programs." "South Korean immigration and law enforcement agencies had an excellent record of tracking suspicious individuals entering their territory and reacting quickly to thwart potential terrorist acts," it said.

"The government is on schedule to begin issuing e-passports that will further protect the identity of lawful travelers and prevent terrorists from using counterfeit passports."

The report also noted that the South Korean parliament passed anti-terrorist financing legislation to further curb money laundering by terrorist groups in and through the country.

http://www.amlosphere.com/asia/cft/u.s.-retains-n.k.-on-terrorism-list-but-reaffirms-possible-removal.html