Re-listing N.K. as terror sponsor to complicate inter-Korean ties: CRS report

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- Putting North Korea back on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism would complicate not only future diplomatic initiatives between Washington and Pyongyang, but also Seoul's efforts to improve relations with Pyongyang, according to a U.S. congressional report.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, which was dated Jan. 21, also said that redesignating the North as a terrorism sponsor is unlikely to inflict significant economic punishment on North Korea, particularly in the short term.

Redesignation "could have a significant impact on international diplomacy with North Korea," it said, adding that the regime could take redesignation as a threat to its two track policy of nuclear development and economic development, with the latter goal partially dependent upon influxes of foreign investment.

Calls have risen for re-listing North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism since the FBI determined the North was responsible for the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures. U.S. President Barack Obama also said the administration would review such a possibility.

The CRS report said the U.S. has more to lose than gain from redesignation.

"Placing North Korea back on the list could forestall future diplomatic initiatives between Washington and Pyongyang, particularly if North Korean leaders, as well as Chinese leaders, interpret it as a sign that the United States is not interested in dialogue," it said.

Considering previous patterns of North Korean behavior, the report said, the communist nation could take additional provocative actions, such as nuclear or long-range-missile tests, if it is re-listed as a terrorism sponsor.

"Returning Pyongyang to the terrorism sponsor list also could complicate the South Korean government's initiatives to improve relations with North Korea. Assessing the merits of these implications depends heavily on whether or not one believes the United States should adopt a harsher stance toward Pyongyang," it said.

North Korea was put on the U.S. terrorism sponsor list for the 1987 midair bombing of a Korean Air flight that killed all 115 people aboard. But the U.S. administration of former President George W. Bush removed Pyongyang from the list in 2008 in exchange for progress in denuclearization talks.

U.S. officials have taken a cautious attitude about the possibility of redesignating the North, saying such a decision would only be symbolic because the North is already under the kind of sanctions that the designation as a terrorism sponsor would bring about.

The CRS report said that the U.S. could use the 2009 and 2013 seizure of North Korean shipments of chemical protection equipment to Syria as evidence in redesignating the North, but the cases also fall outside the six-month window the State Department uses to determine governments' placement on the list.

jschang@yna.co.kr
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