The North said Washington's decision to keep its stealth fighters in South Korea was part of efforts to prepare for a military campaign on the Korean peninsula over the nuclear crisis.
The United States, in its "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report issued late last month, again designated North Korea as a state that sponsors terrorism, along with Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Sudan.
"The U.S.' desperate efforts to keep the DPRK (North Korea) listed as a 'sponsor of terrorism' are aimed to invent a pretext to stifle the DPRK militarily," said Rodong Sinmun, the North's communist party newspaper.
"It is the trite trick of the United States to make such accusation against the DPRK whenever it launches a propaganda campaign to tarnish Pyongyang's image on the international arena and isolate and stifle it," said Rodong, as quoted by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Rodong also said the U.S. decision to extend the deployment of F-117 stealth fighter-bombers in South Korea is a clear sign of planned U.S. aggression against North Korea.
The United States has kept six F-117 stealth fighters in South Korea that have been here since March for annual war games with the South, which Pyongyang calls a rehearsal for a U.S.-led strike on North Korea.
"The continued deployment of stealth fighters is physical evidence showing that the United States is stepping up its preparations to crush our republic behind the curtain of dialogue," the statement said.
"We could not but to regard this grave development as the signal of the aggression," it said, warning it was ready to take self-defense measures.
The North's statement was in response to U.S. President George Bush's vow to continue to harshly deal with terrorists, which he made in the wake of Monday's deadly bombings in Saudi Arabia. "The ruthless murder of American citizens and other citizens, reminds us that the war on terror continues," Bush said.
South Korea condemned the terrorist attacks in Riyadh, which killed 29, including seven Americans.
The National Police Agency said police have strengthened security outside the U.S. Embassy and other U.S.-related facilities in South Korea.
The United States maintains 37,000 troops in South Korea at nearly 100 installations, some of which have been the target of protests and firebomb attacks by radical students.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.