N. Korea Put on U.S. List of Terrorist States

The State Department today put North Korea on its list of countries that support terrorism, declaring the Asian nation does not “live up to the standards of civilized behavior.”

The action was based largely on the bombing of a South Korean jetliner last November in which 115 people died. A 25-year-old woman who had been a passenger on an earlier leg of the flight confessed Friday that she was a North Korean agent and had planted a bomb aboard.

The woman, who had traveled under a false Japanese passport, said she acted under orders from Kim Jong Il, the son of North Korea’s leader, Kim Il Sung, to disrupt the 1988 Summer Olympics and to create unrest in South Korea.

Placing North Korea on the list will mean additional restrictions on U.S. trade and require that the United States vote against loans by international lending groups.

Evidence Called ‘Compelling’

Charles E. Redman, the State Department spokesman, said that the evidence of North Korean culpability in the KAL bombing “is compelling.” He called on all nations to condemn North Korea “for this terrorist act.”

Without explanation, Redman said the United States would support all efforts to bring North Korea to account. Last week, South Korean officials threatened to retaliate against the government in Pyongyang. State Department officials said Seoul had informed them it was not planning a military move.

Redman said Secretary of State George P. Shultz had designated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism and withdrawn the authorization of last March allowing U.S. diplomats to hold “substantive discussions” with North Korean diplomats in neutral settings.

The spokesman said there had been “some contacts” but they did not produce any tangible results.

The five other countries on the list of those supporting terrorism are Iran, Libya, Syria, Cuba and South Yemen.