Updated on
Summary
The US today said that the sinking of the South Korean Naval vessel 'Cheonan' by North Korea was a provocative action but refused to term it as an act of terrorism. It is our judgment that the sinking of the Cheonan is not an act of international terrorism and by itself would not trigger placing North Korea on the state sponsor of terrorism list, State Department spokesman PJ Crowley told reporters, at his daily news conference. We continue to evaluate information that is consistently coming into us regarding North Korean activities, and we will not hesitate to take action if we have information that North Korea has repeatedly provided support for acts of terrorism, he said. Observing that the Cheonan incident certainly is a violation of the existing armistice between North and South, he said the US and its coalition partners are seeking a meeting with North Korean officials to discuss that. We believe that the Cheonan was, in fact, a violation of the armistice. We've sought meetings at various levels and thus far they have not been set up, he said.
