Obama keeps N. Korea off terror sponsor list

Pyongyang did not meet ‘statutory criteria’ to be added to list, report shows

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he had decided not to reinstate nuclear-armed North Korea to a list of countries that the United States considers state sponsors of terrorism.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last June had raised the possibility of returning North Korea to the list in reaction to recent nuclear and missile tests. Several Republican senators had been demanding such a move.

Obama made the determination in a letter sent to leaders of the U.S. Congress that accompanied a classified report on the conduct of North Korea between June 26, 2008, and Nov. 16, 2009.

He said the report concludes that North Korea "does not meet the statutory criteria to again be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism."

Obama was continuing a policy begun by his predecessor, George W. Bush, who removed North Korea from the list of countries alleged to be state sponsors of terrorism in October 2008 in an effort to keep a nuclear deal from collapsing.

Obama, who came to office a year ago seeking to increase American diplomacy, has been seeking to coax North Korea back to the bargaining table.

Pyongyang is under growing pressure to end its boycott of international nuclear disarmament talks, where it could win aid for reducing the security threat it poses in economically vital North Asia.