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The National Intelligence Service (NIS) believes that opposition from Japan will likely affect the decision by the U.S. to remove North Korea from its list of states sponsoring terrorism, which is called for under the Feb. 13 six-nation agreement.
In an analysis of international issues submitted to the National Assembly on Wednesday, the NIS said, "In the case of North Korea, Japan's opposition -- related to North Korea's abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, which was one of the reasons that North Korea was designated as a terror state in the first place -- will play a key role in whether to remove North Korea from the list."
The report also said, "During Vice Marshal Cho Myong-rok's visit to Washington in 2000 and during the six-party talks in 2003, North Korea repeatedly asked the U.S. to be removed from the list, but to no avail due to lobbying by Japan."
As for North Korea's demands that the U.S. lift economic sanctions imposed under the Trading with the Enemy Act, the NIS said, "It is totally up to the U.S. president to judge which countries are hostile to the U.S. In light of the cases of China and Vietnam, North Korea's case will proceed according to President Bush's will."
The NIS concluded, "The U.S. Congress has given the administration authority on both matters. However, U.S. Congress's judgment on these matters and its level of understanding of North Korea can also serve as variables in the process of removing North Korea from these lists."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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