North Korea's removal from the list published annually by the US State Department is a critical component of an accord reached among six nations on February 13 under which the Stalinist state would begin dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

It requires the United States to "begin the process of removing the designation of the DPRK (North Korea) as a state sponsor of terrorism" as the two nuclear rivals discuss normalization in relations.

But the three Republican legislators from the House of Representatives, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Edward Royce and Donald Manzullo, sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging caution in Washington's diplomatic approach to resolving the nuclear crisis with Pyongyang.

They said in a statement they "would resist any attempt to prematurely remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism."

The trio cited issues of North Korea's missile technology proliferation, "continuing" counterfeiting of US currency and past abductions of US, Korean and Japanese citizens.

"The State Department's list of terrorist states cannot be used as a bargaining chip in diplomatic negotiations. It will ultimately lead to a greater threat to American security in the future," the three cautioned in the letter.

"The expeditious removal of the DPRK from the State Department's annual list of state sponsors raises serious concerns over the integrity of the list, which has gained additional relevancy in a post-September 11th world," they said.

Ros-Lehtinen, Royce and Manzullo said that in order to remove North Korea from the list, the United States must require Pyongyang to cease any involvement in terrorist activities at least for four years.

It should also resolve all outstanding cases of past terrorist activities, including kidnapping cases, and a reported assassination of a South Korean diplomat in Vladivostok, Russia, in 1996, and abide by international anti-terrorism agreements.

"Until these requirements are met, there is no guarantee that North Korea will not revert to activities that have earned it the designation as a state-sponsor of terror," the letter concluded.

Under the February 13 accord, North Korea agreed to close and seal its key Yongbyon nuclear facility -- long suspected to be the center of its nuclear program -- within 60 days and admit UN nuclear inspectors in return for 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil.

Both the United States and Japan are holding normalization talks with North Korea under separate working groups established under the accord reached in six-party talks that also included South Korea, Japan, Russia and China.

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