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U.S. to lift some sanctions, provide food for North Korea
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States could ease a number of sanctions in place against North Korea "as soon as next week," senior administrative officials said on Thursday, adding the changes weren't related to the just-completed North-South Korea summit. Instead, the officials said, the restrictions that are to be lifted are the "final phase of what President Clinton announced last September 17." Additionally, CNN learned that U.S. officials plan to announce a commitment to provide North Korea with an additional 50,000 tons of food assistance.
The pledge of humanitarian aid was in response to a World Food Program (WFP) appeal for 420,367 tons of food for the communist state. The appeal began July 1, 1999, and is due to expire at the end of June, 2000. U.S. officials said the WFP is 72,000 tons short of its original appeal, which is why the United States decided to make an additional pledge of 50,000 tons. Officials could not say how much the donation of corn, rice or soy blend is worth in dollars. Trade sanctions to be liftedClinton announced the changes last fall after Pyongyang agreed to refrain from ballistic missile testing. The North Koreans had alarmed Washington and much of northeast Asia earlier in the year, however, when U.S. monitors discovered that North Korea was planning a missile test more ambitious than the launch in 1998 of a missile over Japan. Officials said that since September they've been working through an inner-agency bureaucracy under the Trading with the Enemy Act and are now "crossing t's and dotting i's." Activities that will have some restrictions lifted include: Other restrictions remainOthers restrictions that affect trade or financial transactions with certain North Korean entities will remain in place. U.S. officials said that is because of North Korea's designation as a terrorist-supporting state. One senior administration official noted that "of all the states on that list, they're the one most capable of taking specific action." According to U.S. Department of State regulations, one of the criteria for removal from the list is that the country does commit any acts of terrorism for at least half a year, a criteria North Korea meets. But U.S. officials also want North Korea to expel or put on trial a number of Japanese Red Army hijackers. Statutory restrictions such as U.S. missile technology sanctions remain in place, as do restrictions based on multilateral arrangements and nonproliferation controls. Under the Trading With the Enemy Act, all North Korean assets remain frozen and claims settlements issues are not addressed by this initiative.
RELATED STORIES: South Korean president hails pact with North as starting point RELATED SITES: North Korea: Politics and Government | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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