Japan Brief/FPCJ, No. 0863
October 15, 2008


US Government Announces Lifting of North Korea’s Designation as State Sponsor of Terrorism

On October 11 (local time) the US government announced that it had rescinded North Korea’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism because, the statement said, North Korea had made “significant cooperation concerning the verification” of its denuclearization actions. Earlier this year, following an agreement between Washington and Pyongyang on the method of verification of North Korea’s declaration of its nuclear programs, which it had submitted on June 26, the United States had proposed a draft to North Korea calling for the verification of not only plutonium but also nuclear weapons production and tests, uranium enrichment, nuclear proliferation, and other information. North Korea balked at these proposals, and negotiations broke down. The United States therefore postponed the delisting of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, and North Korea ceased its work on the disablement of nuclear facilities and showed signs of resuming its nuclear development. Following the delisting on October 11, the first step from now on is expected to be the early return to North Korea of monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the beginning of verification work.

The Japanese Government’s Response
Regarding the lifting by the United States of North Korea’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, Prime Minister Taro Aso said to the press on October 12, “The building of an effective framework for verification is the most important thing for the denuclearization of North Korea. The United States has used delisting for that purpose. It is one method.” On the 14th, Prime Minister Aso, appearing before the Upper House Budget Committee, said “I have been saying that I am dissatisfied with the lifting” and stated clearly that “it is not necessary to respond to the energy assistance as long as there is no progress in the abduction issue.” Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told the press, “Japan’s policy on the abduction issue will not take even one step backward because of this delisting.” And Minister for Foreign Affairs Hirofumi Nakasone issued a statement on October 12 that said, “Working closely with the countries concerned, including the United States, Japan will make its utmost efforts to advance Japan-DPRK relations including the abduction issue, as well as the nuclear issue.”

Newspaper Editorials
On October 12 and 13 Japan’s main newspapers all carried editorials on the US government’s lifting of North Korea’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and made their respective comments on the issue.

The Asahi Shimbun editorial (October 13), headlined “North Korea’s delisting: The process for denuclearization must continue,” stated, “It would have been better if Washington had gained agreement from Pyongyang to a more rigorous and extensive verification system before the delisting. Still, this latest accord at least lets the world know more about the isolated regime’s program to extract plutonium, a key material in the production of nuclear weapons. Given that the process toward North Korea’s denuclearization was in jeopardy, we should probably accept that the US decision was comparatively reasonable.” It continued, “But the most challenging part of the negotiations to get North Korea to abandon all its nuclear programs has yet to come. It is crucial to reopen the six-party talks on the country’s nuclear ambitions. This should be done swiftly to hammer out details of the verification process. The parties to the talks should apply strong pressure on North Korea to make further concessions on key points, including the ambiguities of the new deal.”

Under the headline “Will denuclearization be realized now?” the Mainichi Shimbun editorial (October 13) said, “We do not want to believe that the United States has given in to North Korea’s blatant harassment. It has lifted the designation of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism with the intention at least of keeping North Korea within the framework of the six-party talks and making progress toward denuclearization, even if it takes time. That interpretation is no doubt possible.” However, it also expressed concern that there are too many loopholes in the deal between Washington and Pyongyang that led to the delisting and stressed, “If North Korea, for selfish reasons, does not cooperate in the verification process, the United States should immediately restore the designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. It must not neglect efforts to block the loopholes that North Korea will try to wriggle through.”

The Yomiuri Shimbun editorial (October 12), titled “Past sparks skepticism of N-verification deal,” commented, “US President George W. Bush has said that North Korea’s agreeing to a comprehensive and rigorous verification protocol for its nuclear activities is a prerequisite for being delisted as a state sponsor of terrorism. We wonder how well such a protocol is secured. At upcoming six-party negotiations on Pyongyang’s nuclear program expected to be resumed within this month, Japan must identify ambiguous elements of the agreement with the United States and North Korea and then establish a robust verification regime which will not allow Pyongyang to conceal nuclear activities.” It went on, “But it is difficult to quell doubts about whether an effective nuclear verification regime can be realized considering the repeated concessions made by the United States in its negotiations with North Korea, as well as by Pyongyang’s behavior to date.” The Yomiuri concluded emphatically, “The United States repeatedly stressed that it would never forget the abduction of Japanese citizens by the North Koreans. Japan and the United States, reinforcing bilateral cooperation, must strongly press North Korea to resolve not only the denuclearization issue but also the abduction issue.”

Under the headline “Designate again if Pyongyang breaks its promise; reconfirm Japan-US solidarity on the abduction issue,” the Sankei Shimbun editorial (October 13) observed, “The deal between the United States and North Korea states clearly that the inspection of undeclared facilities will be based on ‘mutual consent,’ but this is tantamount to a concession giving North Korea the right of veto. In addition, investigation of uranium enrichment, which was left out of the declaration, and of exports to Syria and elsewhere has been virtually postponed, and the verification of nuclear weapon production and storage facilities, the quantity of nuclear bombs, nuclear test facilities, and other information, which are essential for complete denuclearization, is not made clear. All of these things will definitely be the source of serious trouble in the verification process from now on.” It also remarked, “The Japanese government should persistently demand the realization of rigorous and comprehensive verification and once again reconfirm Japan-US solidarity regarding the abduction issue.”

The Nikkei editorial (October 13), headlined “Implausible delisting of North Korea,” questioned whether the move by the US government to lift North Korea’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism “was really necessary.” It went on, “The content of the deal represents quite a concession by the United States,” and also remarked, “It should not have made a compromise that will bind the next administration’s policy toward North Korea.” Furthermore, The Nikkei stated with dissatisfaction, “Japan and the United States clearly have different perceptions of the threat posed by North Korea. We cannot easily accept the decision to delist North Korea, which brandishes the threat of nuclear weapons and missile and abducted Japanese citizens. On the abduction issue, North Korea promised to set up an investigative committee with authority and to complete the investigation by the fall, but there has been no progress whatsoever. The US government should have given more consideration to Japan’s position.”

(Copyright 2008 Foreign Press Center / Japan)