North Korea Outraged by U.S. ‘Counter-Terrorism Non-Cooperation’ Designation

North Korea has protested against the United States for designating them as a “counterterrorism non-cooperator” for not cooperating with its counterterrorism efforts, saying it has no field of cooperation with the U.S.

Kwon Jong Gun, director-general of the Department of U.S. Affairs at the North’s foreign ministry, stated on the 18th, saying, “Recently, the U.S. State Department designated the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) as a ‘counterterrorism non-cooperator’ for not cooperating with their counterterrorism efforts.”

Kwon emphasized, “The U.S. is completely unaware of the current US-North Korea confrontation situation and lacks a sense of reality. There is a clear need to clarify what ‘cooperation’ they are discussing. There are no fields where the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States, which are definitely in hostile relations, can talk about cooperation.”

He also raised his voice, saying, “The ‘counterterrorism efforts’ advocated by the United States are cloaked violation of sovereignty to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and to justify regime overthrow and aggression. We are not willing or interested in cooperating with the United States ‘counterterrorism efforts.'”

In addition, he added, “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will continue to take necessary measures to thoroughly expose and crush the U.S.’s interference in internal affairs and acts of aggression, which are openly carried out under the banner of ‘counterterrorism cooperation,’ in front of the international community.”

Previously, the United States designated North Korea as a “counterterrorism non-cooperator” on the 15th. The U.S. State Department has been designating countries that do not cooperate with U.S. counterterrorism efforts as counterterrorism non-cooperators since 1997. North Korea has been on this list for 28 consecutive years since the first year.

The export, sale, and licensing of U.S. defense goods and services to countries designated as counterterrorism non-cooperators is prohibited, and the countries are disclosed to the international community.