U.S. Won't Take N. Korea Off Terror List

TOKYO — Kyodo News agency is reporting that the United States has assured Japan it wouldn't immediately take North Korea off its list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday.
The report quoted Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura as saying that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made the assurance in a phone call Monday morning.
The United States said it would remove North Korea from the list of nations sponsoring terrorism after the communist state disclosed its nuclear programs in June.
Japan, however, wants North Korea to fully investigate its past kidnappings of Japanese citizens first.