YONHAP NEWS

U.S. to continue monitoring N. Korea's proliferation for possible relisting: State Dept.

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- The United States Thursday expressed concerns about North Korea's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, warning of a possible relisting of it as a state sponsor of terrorism.

   "We will continue to look at the evidence surrounding North Korea's activities," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. "And if it eventually meets the criterion of the law, then we'll consider a different judgment."

   The spokesman was responding to the decision by U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday not to relist North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, which would subject it to additional sanctions.

   Obama sent a letter to congressional leaders to say that his administration's 17-month examination of North Korea through November last year concluded that North Korea "does not meet the statutory criteria to again be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism."

   Crowley added, "But obviously, this is something that we will continue to carefully evaluate going forward. We obviously have considerable concern about activities involving North Korea, its proliferation of dangerous technologies within the region and around the world. And we continue to work aggressively to restrict those activities under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874."

   North Korea is under U.N. sanctions imposed after its nuclear and missile tests early last year, which in turn prompted the North to boycott the six-party talks on ending its nuclear weapons programs.

   Pyongyang recently hinted at returning to the denuclearization talks, although it first called for the end of sanctions and a peace treaty to replace the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

   The State Department has said that 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.

   Experts say the North's nuclear and ballistic missile tests do not constitute terrorist acts and thus do not meet the requirement for relisting the North.

   The previous Bush administration removed North Korea from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism in October 2008, hoping that the step might prompt progress in the six-party talks.

   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 paved the way for a fresh round of multilateral nuclear talks deadlocked for nearly a year.

   hdh@yna.co.kr
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