S. Korea, Japan say listing N. Korea as terror sponsor will pressure Pyongyang to denuclearize

SEOUL – South Korea and Japan on Tuesday welcomed President Donald Trump putting North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying it would ramp up pressure on Pyongyang to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.

The designation, announced on Monday, allows the United States to impose more sanctions on Pyongyang, which is pursuing nuclear weapons and missile programs in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions.

"I welcome and support (the designation) as it raises the pressure on North Korea," Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters on Tuesday, according to Kyodo news agency.

South Korea said it expected the listing to contribute to the peaceful denuclearization of the North, adding it continued, along with the United States, to seek to bring North Korea to the negotiating table, the country's foreign ministry said in a text message.