US to review N Korea terror status: Obama

WASHINGTON: The United States is mulling whether or not to place North Korea back onto its list of state sponsors of terrorism President Barack Obama said in an interview aired Sunday following the communist nation's alleged cyber attack on Sony Pictures.

"We're going to review those through a process that's already in place," the president said in a pre-taped interview on CNN's "State of the Union."

"And we don't make those judgments just based on the news of the day. We look systematically at what's been done and based on those facts, we'll make those determinations in the future."

Washington accuses Pyong-yang of being behind a hacking at Sony which led to the release of embarrassing emails and caused executives to halt the release of the madcap comedy action film "The Interview."

The film about a fictional CIA plot to kill the country's leader infuriated North Korea.

Obama's remarks followed a call from a leading US senator to re-consider North Korea's terror designation.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2014.