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Obama Keeps North Korea Off U.S. List of Terrorism Sponsors

By Hans Nichols

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said he’ll keep North Korea off the U.S. government’s list of states that sponsor terrorism.

North Korea “does not meet the statutory criteria” for inclusion on the list, that automatically imposes sanctions, Obama wrote in a letter to congressional leaders yesterday.

Former President George W. Bush removed North Korea in 2008 after the communist state agreed to inspections of sites suspected of being part of the regime’s nuclear program. It had been designated as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1988.

Last June, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the administration was considering re-designating North Korea after it conducted nuclear and missile tests earlier in the year.

Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria are classified as state sponsors of terrorism, according to the State Department.

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