Press Conference Criticizing U.S.' Redesignation of North Korea as a State Sponsor of Terrorism
ROK Ministry of Unification
2004-05-27
1. Overview
o North Korea denounced the U.S. for listing it as a country sponsoring terrorism in the recently released U.S. Department of State's annual terrorism report (April 29). In a press conference with the KCNA on May 2, North Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesperson criticized the U.S. for redesignating the DPRK as a state sponsor of terrorism on the grounds of the Japanese abduction issue.
- "This indicates that Washington's hostile policy towards the DPRK remains unchanged," criticized the Foreign Ministry spokesperson (May 2, Central Broadcasting Station/Pyongyang Broadcasting Service).
¡Ø The U.S. Department of State has released the annual report on "Patterns of Global Terrorism" since 1986 based on the Foreign Relations Authorization Act to provide Congress with information on overall trends in terrorism and cases of state-sponsored terrorism.
2. Main Points of the Reports
o The U.S. State Department has released its annual report on terrorism for 2003, listing the DPRK, which has voiced the strongest opposition to U.S. policy of aggression and terrorism, as "a sponsor of terrorism".
o In the past, the U.S. made persistent efforts to associate us with terrorism on the grounds of harboring Japanese Red Army members involved in hijacking a jet. But as the issue has subsided, the U.S. is now taking up the issue of the abducted Japanese once again and redesignating us as a country that sponsors terrorism.
o The Japanese abduction issue has already been resolved through the Pyongyang Declaration between the DPRK and Japan. It is an issue solely between the DPRK and Japan and does not concern Washington.
- Nevertheless, the U.S. is internationalizing the issue as well as encouraging Japan, its junior alliance partner, to make noise over the abduction issue.
o Various facts demonstrate that even if the abduction issue is resolved once and for all, the U.S. will take up yet another issue with the DPRK so long as its anti-DPRK policy remains unchanged.
o Therefore, the U.S. is advised to face up to reality and renounce its anachronistic hostile policy towards the DPRK for its own sake as well.
3. Analysis
o At the press conference, North Korea offered its first response to the U.S. State Dept.'s redesignation of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism.
- Pyongyang claimed that it is Washington's hostile policy towards the DPRK that has prompted the Department of State to relist it as a terror-sponsoring nation, using this as an opportunity to demand that Washington abandon its hostile policy against the DPRK.
- North Korea is trying to prevent the issue from being tabled as an agenda item at the multilateral talks by defining the Japanese abduction issue as ¡°a bilateral issue already resolved between the DPRK and Japan through the Pyongyang Declaration.¡±
o North Korea has been designated as a terrorism-sponsoring state in the U.S. Department of State's annual terrorism report every year since 1988, following its bombing of a Korean Airliner flight in Nov. 1987. North Korea's denouncement of the listing and demand that it be removed from the list seem to be aimed at the following:
- To improve its relations with the U.S. and to bring about a legal and institutional environment conducive to securing foreign investment and financial support for North Korea.
¡Ø Countries designated as states sponsoring terrorism are under various economic sanctions pursuant to the U.S. domestic laws, such as the Foreign Assistance Act and the Export-Import Bank Act, among others. This essentially prevents any international financial institution from granting loans to these countries.
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