US President George W. Bush's administration removed North Korea in October 2008 as part of diplomatic efforts to curb Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, angering US conservatives who denounced what they described as an unwarranted concession to a brutal regime.
Since then, US hardliners have fumed at what they call an impotent global sanctions regime in the face of renewed nuclear tests and missile firings and called for reversing Bush's decision.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted to defeat tougher language from Republican Senator Sam Brownback that would have urged the Obama administration to return North Korea to the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Instead, they adopted a measure offered by Democratic US Senators John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Jim Webb, chairman of its panel on East Asian and Pacific Affairs; and Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The non-binding measure declares North Korea "a threat to the northeast Asian region and to international peace and security," vows strict enforcement of existing international sanctions on the Stalinist regime, and says Washington should consider the imposition of new sanctions.
It also calls for the Obama administration to provide a report within 30 days that should "present any credible evidence" that North Korea has aided acts of terrorism or terrorist groups.
It should also examine Pyongyang's proliferation record, and "assess the effectiveness" of returning it to the blacklist.
The measure passed as an amendment to an annual US defense spending bill, which requires passage by the full Senate and House of Representatives before it can go to Obama to be signed into law.
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