U.S. Leaves N. Korea on State Sponsors of Terrorism List in 2023 Report
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 — The United States has maintained North Korea’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism in its latest annual report released by the State Department. The report highlights the reclusive regime’s ongoing involvement in international terrorism.
The 2023 Country Reports on Terrorism, a key document that informs U.S. counterterrorism policies, identifies several countries as state sponsors of terrorism, including Cuba, Iran, and Syria.
North Korea has been on this list since November 2017, when it was redesignated by the secretary of state. The regime was initially added to the list in 1988, primarily due to its connection to the bombing of Korean Air Flight 007 in 1987. However, this designation was lifted in 2008 after a legal review deemed it appropriate to do so.
Its return to the state sponsors of terrorism list in 2017 was a result of the secretary of state’s assessment that North Korea had engaged in repeated acts of international terrorism over the previous nine years since its removal from the list.
Among the incidents cited in the report are the sheltering of four Japanese Red Army members in North Korea. These individuals are currently wanted by Japan for their roles in a 1970 hijacking of a Japan Airlines flight. Furthermore, the report discusses Japan’s ongoing efforts to fully account for numerous Japanese citizens believed to have been abducted by North Korean agents during the 1970s and 1980s.
The designation as a state sponsor of terrorism can be lifted if certain conditions are met. These include a six-month period without involvement in international terrorism and guarantees from the designated country that it will refrain from future support of terrorist activities.
