YONHAP NEWS

U.S. not to relist N. Korea as state sponsor of terrorism: State Dept.

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, June 3 (Yonhap) -- The United States Wednesday said it has no intention of relisting North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism despite nuclear and missile tests that escalated regional tensions.

   The remarks by Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state for public affairs, came in response to a letter from several U.S. senators to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday asking for the North's relisting.

   "As for North Korea, I think we're aware of that letter, but as far as I know, firing off missiles and overheated rhetoric is unwise, unhelpful, but does not meet the legal definition of terrorism," Crowley said. "To list a country on the terrorism list, there's a legal requirement there. And what we've seen so far I don't think meets that legal test."

   The United States delisted the North in October as Pyongyang agreed verbally to a protocol for verification of its past and current nuclear activity as part of the disabling process of its nuclear facilities under a six-nation deal.

   However, at the latest six-party meeting in December, Pyongyang refused to sign an agreement on the verification regime, saying that it will accept that in the third and final phase of the denuclearization process, which involves dismantlement of the nuclear facilities in return for hefty economic aid and other political and diplomatic benefits.

   In the second phase of disablement, the North was to get 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil.

   The multilateral nuclear talks appear doomed as North Korea in recent months has pledged to abandon them, citing the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of its rocket launch in early April.

   The council is also reviewing a draft resolution for further sanctioning Pyongyang for its nuclear test last week, the second in three years. Financial sanctions and overall arms trade embargoes are being considered, but China, North Korea's staunchest communist ally, is trying to soften the sanctions.

   Some U.S. officials and experts see the North's recent provocations as an attempt to revive bilateral negotiations with Washington.

   Others say Pyongyang has no intention of abandoning its nuclear arsenal. Nuclear clout might help North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's third and youngest son, Jong-un, consolidate power in the coming years as the senior Kim's health weakens.

   A U.S. delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg is currently in Seoul as part of its Asian tour to discuss how to sanction the North.

   "We continue to act both in the region, with this delegation led by Deputy Secretary Steinberg, and also in New York," Crowley said. "We've been in intensive discussions with our partners in the Security Council, you know, and looking for a very firm resolution."

   The spokesman repeated calls for the North to return to the six-party talks.

   "We're obviously going to look for ways that are both, you know, multilateral, bilateral, to help North Korea understand it has obligations under international law and it has made commitments within the six-party process, you know, back to the agreement in September 2005," he said. "We're looking for North Korea to return to a process and to pick up where we left off with that agreement and fulfill its obligations, you know, towards the international community's objective of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

   "Clearly, North Korea is, in my judgment, signaling it wants to have nuclear weapons and a normal relationship with the region and the world," he said. "And we're clearly communicating to North Korea that they'll have to make a choice."

   hdh@yna.co.kr
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