U.S. puts N. Korea on terrorist blacklist

Press, 22 January 1988, Page 7

U.S. puts N. Korea on terrorist blacklist

NZPA-Reuter Washington

The United States has put North Korea on its blacklist of terrorist nations and has called for international protests over its alleged role in the destruction of a South Korean airliner by a bomb.

followed consultations with South Korea “regarding ways in which we register our common outrage at this act of mass murder,” he said. South Korea had threatened “all forms of possible retaliation” against the North for the attack. United States officials said they did not expect any military action which could greatly increase tensions on the peninsula and jeopardise the summer Olympic Games set for Seoul. There are 40,000 American troops in South Korea and Washington has considerable influ-

“We’ll do whatever we can to make sure there’s some price to be paid” for the destruction of Korean Air Lines Flight 858 with its 115 passengers, a State Department spokesman, Charles Redman, said. The terrorist listing — plus tighter visa controls and a ban on diplomatic contacts with the North —

ence there. , Mr Redman called on other countries — including China and the Soviet Union —to join in condemning North Korea for the bombing. The United States will work with South Korea to encourage the international community to adopt further “appropriate” retaliatory measures, he said. Washington said previously that it agreed with South Korea that North Korea was responsible for the bombing on November 29. But Mr Redman said the evidence was even

more compelling after United States officials reviewed a confession by self-proclaimed North Korean agent, Kim Hyon Hui, who said she helped plant a bomb aboard the plane. Mr Redman admitted the terrorist designation and the other sanctions would have little practical effect on North Korea, but he insisted they had importance as a symbol of the civilised world’s revulsion at North Korea’s behaviour. Other countries on the terrorist list are Libya, Syria, Iran, South Yemen and Cuba.