President Barack Obama has ruled out that the U.S. would again include North Korea on its list of states that sponsor terrorism
The U.S. president said in a letter to Congress that a classified report on the communist state's activities from June 26, 2008 through November 16, 2009 indicates that "the DPRK does not meet the statutory criteria to again be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism."
North Korea was put on the list in 1987 soon after it downed a South Korean airplane over Myanmar. The previous U.S. administration removed the communist state from the list in a bid to boost denuclearization talks.
Several Republican senators earlier requested U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to reinstate North Korea to the list after it carried out nuclear and missile tests.
MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti)
