North Korea Taken Off U.S. Terror List

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration announced Saturday it's removing North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying the reclusive communist state agreed to a comprehensive program to verify the extent of its nuclear arsenal.

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Footage aired on Oct. 11 marks the first time in 58 days that photos of Kim Jong Il in public have been broadcast by North Korean news media.

Among the steps Pyongyang approved, said senior U.S. officials, include the outside inspections of all declared nuclear sites inside North Korea, as well as the scientific sampling of air, soil and other elements that could gauge the extent of the North's production of fissile materials.

Pyongyang also agreed to allow the U.S. and international community to interview key North Korean nuclear scientists and to verify the country's alleged efforts to produce fissile materials using highly enriched uranium, as well as to assist third countries in the development of their nuclear programs.

"Every element of verification that we sought is in this package," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Saturday. "This demonstrates that the Six-Party principle of 'action for action' is working."

Delisting North Korea from the State Department's tally of state sponsors of terrorism will lift some economic sanctions enacted against Pyongyang. But U.S. officials stressed that other sanctions tied to North Korea's proliferation activities and alleged human rights abuses remain in place.

Lifting the sanctions "doesn't remove at all the leverage we maintain over North Korea," said Patricia McNerney, principal deputy assistant secretary for international security and non-proliferation.

U.S. officials acknowledged that that the obstacles to verifying and dismantling North Korea's nuclear program remain formidable and could take years to complete. They said that discrepancies could emerge between Washington and Pyongyang over outside access to military or testing sites that North Korea might not designate as among its declared nuclear sites. These officials also acknowledged that it remains unclear the extent that they'll be able to test and remove samples from the reclusive communist country.

"It will be a bumpy road," said Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance and Implementation Paula DeSutter. "However, we're building a road."

The announcement is already stoking the ire of some U.S. conservatives, who argue that the guidelines for verification might not be stringent enough. Republican presidential candidate John McCain said in a statement released ahead of the State Department's formal announcement Saturday that the U.S. must "avoid reaching for agreement for its own sake, particularly if it leaves critical verification issues unaddressed."

In recent weeks, North Korea has said the U.S.'s original verification demands were too intrusive and had pulled back from the disarmament accord originally reached this year with Washington and four other countries.

Thursday, North Korea informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it was preparing to kick out weapons inspectors. The reclusive state has also begun reactivating its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and taken steps that suggest it may conduct a new round of missile tests, U.S. officials said.

U.S. officials said, however, that Pyongyan has agreed as part of the new agreement to resume disabling the Yongbyon reactor and to allow U.S. and IAEA monitors to remain in North Korea.

This compromise agreement was negotiated by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill during a trip to Pyongyang this month. The U.S. maintains the right to place North Korea back on the State Department's terrorism list should Pyongyang fail to make good on its disarmament commitments.

Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com