North Korea slams US over redesignation as 'uncooperative' country in counterterrorism efforts

SEOUL: North Korea denounced the US on Saturday over its recent redesignation as a country not cooperating fully with US counterterrorism efforts, insisting that no area in which the two countries can cooperate exists.

Kwon Jong-gun, Director-General of the Department of US Affairs at North Korea's Foreign Ministry, issued the criticism after the US kept North Korea on its list of countries not fully cooperating with its counterterrorism efforts earlier this week, Yonhap news agency reported.

"North Korea and the US are definitely in hostile relations, and it can be said there exists no field of cooperation between North Korea and the US," said Kwon in a statement released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kwon accused the US anti-terrorist efforts of being aimed at interferring with the internal affairs of other countries, claiming that such efforts give rise to various terrorist groups, according to the KCNA.

"We remind the US once again that we have neither intention nor interest in cooperation with the US in its 'efforts against terrorism' exclusively used as a tool for interference and aggression on other sovereign states," Kwon said.

On Wednesday, the US State Department kept North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Venezuela on its annual list of countries not fully cooperating with its counterterrorism efforts. North Korea has been on the list since 1997.