N. Korea says committed to fighting terrorism

SEOUL: North Korea yesterday stressed its opposition to all forms of terrorism, describing such attacks as a threat to human life and international stability.

A statement from North Korea appeared to pave the way for its removal from a US list of state sponsors of terrorism, in return for Pyongyang's efforts to shut down its nuclear weapons programme.

Washington is expected to start the delisting process when the North hands over a list of all its nuclear activities as part of a six-nation deal.

North Korea "will firmly maintain its consistent stand of opposing all forms of terrorism and any support to it and fulfil its responsibility and duty in the struggle against terrorism as a dignified member of the United Nations, in the future, too," said the Foreign Ministry statement.

"Frequent terrorist acts being perpetrated in different parts of the world seriously threaten human lives, social stability and international peace and security," it said. The statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, also vowed to combat the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

The North was put on the US list in 1988 after its agents were found to have bombed a South Korean airliner the previous year, killing all 115 people on board. The US State Department says the North is not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since that bombing.

The designation prevents the impoverished state from receiving US economic assistance and blocks loans from the World Bank and other multilateral organisations.

AFP