DPRK remains off US list of terror sponsors

UPDATE: According to the State Department web page:

Philip J. Crowley
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC

Question Taken at the June 23, 2010 Daily Press Briefing
June 28, 2010

Question: Has a determination been made whether to put North Korea back on the list of State Sponsored Terrorism? Was the Cheonan incident a factor?

Answer: The standards for designating a country as a state sponsor and rescinding the designation are set out in the three separate statutes: Section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act (22 USC 2371), Section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 USC 278), and Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act (50 USC app 2405(j)). All three statutes provide for the Secretary of State the authority to designate countries the governments of which “repeatedly provide support for acts of international terrorism.” Therefore, the Secretary of State must determine that the government of North Korea has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism. The United States will follow the provisions of the law as the facts warrant, and if information exists which indicates that North Korea has repeatedly provided support for acts of terrorism, the Department will take immediate action. As a general matter, a state military attack on a military target would not be considered an act of international terrorism.

PRN: 2010/867

ORIGINAL POST: According to Daily Yomuri (Japan):

U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration has decided not to relist North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, U.S. sources said Tuesday.

Since South Korea concluded last month that one of its patrol ships was sunk by North Korea in March, some U.S. lawmakers have stepped up calls to reinstate North Korea as a state sponsoring terrorism.

U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley also admitted government officials were considering putting North Korea back on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. But the administration refrained from doing so, as given the current circumstances, it was judged difficult to meet the conditions needed for relisting, the sources said. The administration also wants to avoid provoking Pyongyang to the extent it conducts a third nuclear test.

State sponsors of terrorism, as defined by the U.S. State Department, are “countries determined to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism.” To be considered for the list, it must be proved that the country in question had decisive influence on terrorist groups as they obtained funds, weapons, materials and secure areas for conducting operations.

U.S. officials examined North Korea’s suspected involvement in supplying weapons to radical Palestinian Islamic group Hamas, but had yet to obtain evidence necessary for relisting North Korea, the sources said.

Read the full sotry here:
U.S. spares N. Korea ‘terror sponsor’ status
Daily Yomuri
Keiichi Honma
6/24/2010

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