North Korea's restrictions will be lifted, but only after conditions are fully met by Corina Ciubotaru

It seems North Korea isn't going to lose its designation as a terrorism-sponsoring country as soon as Koreans thought. The country has been designated a sponsor in 1988 after the 1987 attack on a South Korean flight which killed 115 people and since then, it has been banned from a series of economic aides that might have accelerated its development; for example, it has been denied access to low interest loans from the World Bank. But the situation in the Asian country has been progressing significantly and now there have been talks of excluding it from the list. It will all come down to how fast the country will shut down its nuclear program and steps have been made by closing the 5-megawatt reactor in Yongbyon in July. According to the agreement signed in February between China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States, North Korea will have to end its nuclear program in exchange for benefits which include aid and political benefits. The list of countries currently sponsoring terrorism also includes Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. Iraq, Libya and South Yemen are the countries that have been removed from the list over the years. Countries on the list are imposed a series of restrictions from the U.S., which include no arms-related exports, controls over dual-use exports, and some forms of financial and economic restrictions. If things go well this time, the country might still have a chance to develop and attract foreign investors and aid to help it grow out of poverty.

related story: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aht1fFNw8jUE&refer=home

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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