Thursday, May 01, 2008

Clarification or Step-back? The 2007 US Report on North Korea as State Sponsor of Terrorism

I took this up last September. Now the 2007 State Sponsors of Terror Overview is out. Take a look. I’ve highlighted the before-and-after in bold. I think that the change reflects the latest turn of events, and is intended to reassure US hardliners that the Bush administration will require quid pro quo at each step of the denuclearization process. The abductees remain, in my view, a side issue with regard to the delisting process.

Country Reports on Terrorism; Chapter 3—State Sponsors of Terrorism Overview; North Korea

2006 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight in 1987. The DPRK continued to harbor four Japanese Red Army members who participated in a jet hijacking in 1970. The Japanese government continued to seek a full accounting of the fate of the 12 Japanese nationals believed to have been abducted by DPRK state entities; five such abductees have been repatriated to Japan since 2002. In the February 13, 2007 Initial Actions Agreement, the United States agreed to "begin the process of removing the designation of the DPRK as a state-sponsor of terrorism."

2007 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight in 1987. The DPRK continued to harbor four Japanese Red Army members who participated in a jet hijacking in 1970. The Japanese government continued to seek a full accounting of the fate of the 12 Japanese nationals believed to have been abducted by DPRK state entities; five such abductees have been repatriated to Japan since 2002. As part of the Six-Party Talks process, the United States reaffirmed its intent to fulfill its commitments regarding the removal of the designation of the DPRK as a state sponsor of terrorism in parallel with the DPRK’s actions on denuclearization and in accordance with criteria set forth in U.S. law.

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