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United States and Japan Agree to Pressure North Korea
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and Japanese defense chief Shigeru Ishiba agreed to use “dialogue and pressure” to persuade North Korea to stop developing nuclear weapons, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Nov. 17). The meeting in Tokyo came as Kelly finished a three-nation Asian tour to prepare for multilateral talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis. South Korean officials expect the next round of nuclear talks to take place Dec. 17 and 18 in Beijing, AP reported. “Resolving the matter diplomatically and peacefully does not mean accepting everything (North Korea) says,” Ishiba said. “If it tries to benefit from nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction, missiles or threats … that is not acceptable,” he added (Natalie Obiko Pearson, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 18). Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Seoul yesterday, where he said that Washington is committed to defending South Korea from a North Korean attack, and that the United States would use nuclear weapons if necessary. The explicit statement was in line with existing U.S. policy but was unusual in its directness, the Washington Times reported. The move might have been intended both to pressure Pyongyang and to dissuade Seoul from developing its own nuclear arsenal (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, Nov. 18). The top U.S. military official in South Korea said yesterday that North Korea’s primary threat to peace is as a provider of WMD material and technology. “North Korea is a known proliferator of military technology,” said U.S. Army Gen. Leon LaPorte. “We believe that nothing would prevent them from selling weapons-grade nuclear material to other countries, rogue nations or terrorist organizations,” he added (Bill Gertz, Washington Times II, Nov. 18). The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, meanwhile, must cooperate closely with North Korea to efficiently suspend the construction of two nuclear reactors there, according to a South Korean official. The site must also be kept intact so that work can be resumed after a year if the suspension is lifted, the official added. KEDO is expected to formally announce the suspension Friday (Yonhap News Agency/BBC Monitoring, Nov. 18).
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