US to remove DPRK from terror list under declaration

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-25 23:47

WASHINGTON -- The United States said Wednesday that it would quickly remove the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) from its list of state sponsors of terrorism if the DPRK makes a full declaration of its nuclear programs.

"We'll have to wait and see. It could be quite soon if that were to happen," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

"We just don't know if they're actually going to do it," she said, adding that the United States hopes to get a "correct and verifiable" nuclear declaration from the DPRK.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last week that the DPRK would soon make a declaration of all its nuclear weapons programs after having missed a deadline under a six-party deal.

Following Pyongyang's declaration, President George W. Bush will formally inform Congress of plans to remove the DPRK from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and stop penalizing the country under the US Trading with the Enemy Act, Rice said.

Under an agreement reached at the six-party talks in Beijing in February last year, the DPRK agreed to abandon all nuclear weapons and programs and declare all its nuclear programs and facilities by the end of 2007, in exchange for diplomatic and economic incentives.

However, the DPRK missed the deadline due to its differences with other countries in the Korean nuclear disarmament talks.

Washington has been urging Pyongyang to fully declare its nuclear programs and activities.