North Korea Says U.S. Decides To Remove It From Terror List

Monday, September 3rd 2007, 12:40 pm

By: News On 6

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ North Korea said Monday the United States has decided to remove the Communist nation from a list of terrorism-sponsoring states and lift sanctions, despite the chief U.S. envoy's insistence that the issue was still under discussion.

An agreement reached in February called for such measures in exchange for North Korea's shutting down its nuclear reactor, disclosing its nuclear programs and disabling its related facilities.

In a report carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Washington's decision to lift sanctions and remove the North from a terrorism list came in a weekend meeting with North Korean representatives in Geneva. In line with KCNA practice, the spokesman was not identified.

The move came after North Korea agreed to take ``practical measures to neutralize'' its existing nuclear facilities this year, the spokesman said.

State Department spokeswoman Nancy Beck said she did not have confirmation of the KCNA report, and Christopher Hill, the chief American envoy, made it clear in his news conference in Geneva that the North Koreans still have work to do before the United States is ready to take the country off the terror list.

``We have had some very good discussions on those issues, and we certainly believe we have a basis for continuing to go forward,'' Hill said when asked if the U.S. and North Korea ``share the same idea'' on what's needed to remove Pyongyang from the list.

North Korea was first added to the list for its alleged involvement in the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner that killed all 115 people aboard. North Korea is among five still on the list, along with Iran, Syria, Sudan and Cuba.

Hill said Sunday in Geneva that North Korea agreed in talks to account for and disable its nuclear programs by the end of 2007.

Kim Kye Gwan, the North's top nuclear envoy, said separately that he had shown willingness to declare and dismantle all nuclear facilities, but he mentioned no dates.

Hill said it was the first time the North has set a timeline for declaring and disabling its nuclear programs since the February deal in which Pyongyang pledged to shut down its nuclear reactor, disclose its nuclear programs and disable related facilities in exchange for economic and political concessions.

Hill avoided discussing details in response to a question from reporters on the issue of the terrorism list.

``I don't want to get into some of the specific things that we're prepared to do,'' he said. ``Obviously we had a considerable discussion about these, but I need to consult within my government and also among the six parties before I consult with the press on that.''

The nuclear accord mandates the U.S. to begin the process of delisting the North as a terrorism sponsor and advance the process of terminating the application of the Trading with the Enemy Act with respect with the North.

Besides being subject to economic sanctions, North Korea has also been on a U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism, effectively blocking the North from being able to obtain low-interest loans from international lending agencies like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The Bush administration is the only U.S. government to remove a country from the list since its inception in 1979. It has removed Libya and, after the end of President Saddam Hussein's government, Iraq.

South Korean presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon also hailed the Geneva agreement, calling it ``a good signal'' for a process to bring peace to the divided Koreas.

Cheon also said Monday he expected the North to honor its commitment to a timeframe.

The U.S. gesture would improve the prospects for the diplomatic normalization between the two sides as well as the next round of nuclear talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, a South Korean expert on North Korea said.

The agreement ``is a very important breakthrough,'' said Paik Hak-soon, of the Sejong Institute, a security think-tank, outside Seoul.

``Any obstacles to the normalization of ties between North Korea and the U.S. will be cleared if the two sides follow through on their parts of the deal on the principle of simultaneous action,'' Paik said.