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Following North Korea’s agreement to allow inspections of its nuclear program, the U.S. on Saturday removed that onetime member of the “axis of evil” from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. The move is the latest step in an improvement of the relations between the U.S. and the isolated communist regime. To ward off criticism by those who think the step is premature, the State Department said it would ensure that North Korea keeps up its side of the bargain. “Verifying North Korea’s nuclear declaration will be a serious challenge and we’re not going into this naïvely,” Patricia McNerney, the department’s assistant secretary for international security and nonprofileration, told reporters. Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) criticized the move. “I have previously said that I would not support the easing of sanctions North Korea unless the United States is able to fully verify the nuclear declaration Pyongyang submitted on June 26,” McCain stated. “It is not clear that the latest verification arrangement will enable us to do so.” The Arizona senator also voiced his concern that the negotiations “appear not to have addressed the issue of North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens, a serious omission and directly relevant to any decision about North Korea's support for terrorist activities.” “As this process moves forward, I expect the administration to explain exactly how this new verification agreement advances American interests and those of our allies before I will be able to support any decision to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism,” McCain stated. |
