ID :
10965
Fri, 06/27/2008 - 20:28
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/10965
The shortlink copeid
Bush says U.S. to remove N. Korea from terror list
WASHINGTON, June 26 Kyodo - President George W. Bush said Thursday he will lift trade sanctions against North Korea and cross it off the U.S. list of terrorism-sponsoring nations now that Pyongyang has given a long-delayed account of its nuclear programs.
He also said the United States ''will never forget'' North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, and will continue to press Pyongyang to ''swiftly resolve'' the issue.
Japan has urged the United States to refrain from taking North Korea off the list until progress is made on the decades-old issue of Pyongyang's abduction of Japanese nationals, which has prevented Japan and North Korea from normalizing bilateral ties.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Bush voiced concern about North Korea's suspected uranium enrichment program, separate from its known plutonium-based nuclear activity, and proliferation of its nuclear technology.
''The United States has no illusions about the regime in Pyongyang. We remain deeply concerned about North Korea's human rights abuses, uranium enrichment activities, nuclear testing and proliferation, ballistic missile programs and the threat it continues to pose to South Korea and its neighbors,'' he said.
Bush warned there will be ''further consequences'' unless North Korea fully discloses and ends its plutonium and uranium enrichment, and proliferation activities.
Washington put North Korea on the list in January 1988 after the bombing of a South Korean airliner the preceding year. The Korean Air Lines flight crashed into the Indian Ocean, killing all 115 people on board.
States named on the U.S. list are subject to sanctions, including a ban on arms-related sales to the country. Removal from the list could pave the way for Pyongyang to gain access to aid from international financial institutions such as the World Bank.
Earlier, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino welcomed North Korea's submission of a nuclear declaration but pointed out that Pyongyang needs to do more.
''Today's development is an important step in the multi-step process laid out in the six-party talks between North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States,'' Perino said.
''There is still more work to be done in order for North Korea to end its isolation,'' she said. ''It must dismantle all of its nuclear facilities, give up its separated plutonium, and resolve outstanding questions on its highly enriched uranium and proliferation activities. It must end these activities in
a fully verifiable way.''
''Multilateral diplomacy is the best way to peacefully resolve the nuclear issue. North Korea should seize this moment of opportunity to restore its relationship with the international community,'' she said.
He also said the United States ''will never forget'' North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, and will continue to press Pyongyang to ''swiftly resolve'' the issue.
Japan has urged the United States to refrain from taking North Korea off the list until progress is made on the decades-old issue of Pyongyang's abduction of Japanese nationals, which has prevented Japan and North Korea from normalizing bilateral ties.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Bush voiced concern about North Korea's suspected uranium enrichment program, separate from its known plutonium-based nuclear activity, and proliferation of its nuclear technology.
''The United States has no illusions about the regime in Pyongyang. We remain deeply concerned about North Korea's human rights abuses, uranium enrichment activities, nuclear testing and proliferation, ballistic missile programs and the threat it continues to pose to South Korea and its neighbors,'' he said.
Bush warned there will be ''further consequences'' unless North Korea fully discloses and ends its plutonium and uranium enrichment, and proliferation activities.
Washington put North Korea on the list in January 1988 after the bombing of a South Korean airliner the preceding year. The Korean Air Lines flight crashed into the Indian Ocean, killing all 115 people on board.
States named on the U.S. list are subject to sanctions, including a ban on arms-related sales to the country. Removal from the list could pave the way for Pyongyang to gain access to aid from international financial institutions such as the World Bank.
Earlier, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino welcomed North Korea's submission of a nuclear declaration but pointed out that Pyongyang needs to do more.
''Today's development is an important step in the multi-step process laid out in the six-party talks between North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States,'' Perino said.
''There is still more work to be done in order for North Korea to end its isolation,'' she said. ''It must dismantle all of its nuclear facilities, give up its separated plutonium, and resolve outstanding questions on its highly enriched uranium and proliferation activities. It must end these activities in
a fully verifiable way.''
''Multilateral diplomacy is the best way to peacefully resolve the nuclear issue. North Korea should seize this moment of opportunity to restore its relationship with the international community,'' she said.
