Posted on 05/02/2005 8:14:10 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Mon May 2, 6:40 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States has "significant deterrent capability" to thwart North Korea's nuclear ambitions, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned as the White House called a weekend missile test by Pyongyang "provocative."
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Rice told reporters, after talks here with French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, that "the United States maintains significant, I want to underline significant, deterrent capability of all kinds in the Asia-Pacific region.
"So I don't think there should be any doubt about our ability to deter whatever the North Koreans are up to," she said.
The short-range missile launched off North Korea's east coast came a day before the opening of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference in New York and as Pyongyang stepped up its war of words with the United States.
Sunday's missile test was "a continuation of a series of provocative acts by North Korea, and they only serve to further isolate North Korea," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
"There is a consensus among all parties in the region that the only viable path for North Korea is to return to the six-party talks and to abandon its nuclear weapons program," he said.
Rice said that missiles would "at some point" have to be a part of the discussion to scrap North Korea's nuclear program although she did not specify whether it should be included in multilateral talks, designed to end the hardline communist state's nuclear weapons buildup.
Her reminder of US military might Monday came amid increasing signals that American patience is wearing thin over North Korea's refusal to return to six-party talks hosted by China.
North Korea has been boasting about its nuclear capability in recent months and said it had built "the nuclear deterrent force" to "effectively cope with the arrogant, outrageous and brigandish method of the US."
Rice discussed the Korean nuclear crisis with her Japanese counterpart, Nobutaka Machimura, on Monday as part of their first round of a "strategic dialogue" and both urged China to play a more active role in reining in North Korea's nuclear ambitions, Machimura said.
"Certainly the Chinese have made a lot of efforts recently, and we recognize and appreciate that," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "But the fact is, North Korea hasn't come back."
Rice and Machimura also discussed the possibility of referring the Korean nuclear crisis to the United Nations Security Council.
"We touched upon that at this meeting, as well, as one of the options on the table, but the primary thing is to realise the six-party talks as soon as possible. But everything else is on the table, as well," Machimura said.
Rice emphasized "the ability of the United States to deter, both on behalf of itself and on behalf of its allies, North Korean nuclear ambitions or gains on the (Korean) peninsula."
The United States has a pact with its allies Japan and South Korea to defend them if they come under threat from North Korea, and it has military facilities and troops stationed in the two countries.
China has hosted three rounds of the six-party talks involving the two Koreas, Russia, the United States and Japan, but North Korea failed to show up for a fourth round set for September 2004.
At the talks, the United States has supported multilateral security guarantees for North Korea if it verifiably and irreversibly scraps its weapons program.
US intelligence officials believe North Korea has had a nuclear weapons capability since the early 1990s and may have added to its arsenal since it expelled UN nuclear inspectors and withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003.
The director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency said last week North Korea is believed to be capable of arming a long-range missile with a nuclear warhead and could deploy a two-stage intercontinental missile that could hit US territory.
"That's all the more reason why we need to take steps under the assumption that they can, because of the regime that is in power there," White House spokesman McClellan said Monday, underlining President Bush's initiative for a missile defense system.
"That's one important deterrent that we continue to pursue," he said.
South Korea will be an island.
,,, that's talent!
NK is nuclear and that will not change.
China is useless and a war is out of the question.
Except the Soviets weren't nuts.
So, even though the Soviet Union went bankrupt, Mother Russia is still habitable.
All I'm saying is I'm not sure the leadership of NK will think through the logical result in which their actions may result. Having said that, I hope you are right.
BTW: thank you for your service.
That's what I like to hear Condi!
You hear that Kimmie?
I hope I'm right too, but I believe you completely about NK being nuts. Mutually Assured Destruction was a workable concept against a major power that wanted to avoid destruction. I have no idea what NK really wants, and I suspect that they don't know for sure, either.
The problem of dealing with folks like Saddam and Kim Jong Il is that they are simple street thugs elevated to positions of power that are beyond their intellect. This is like your local Afghan warlord having a nuclear tipped SCUD. There are different variations in the theme but they are both the same.
To them, the world is one big Gangland. Saddam slimed his way through the streets of Tikrit and Kim Jong Il fought his way through the N. Korean authoritacracy. That is all they know. Live and die by the sword. These guys having nuclear weapons is bad. Very bad. I'm not sure what we can do about it. There are some very touch choices to make in the near future.
As I understand it, Mr. Kim actually inherited his position from Dad. That means he's likely to be even less grounded in reality than if he'd fought his way up from the mean streets.
Imagine what Hitler's son might have been like.
OH MAN that too scary that tell me alot about Chia Pet Kim
He is one psycho leader I bet only house that has lights in his own cribs LOL!
I don't think that Condi would go to North Korea unlike Maddy not Too Bright I don't think Little Kim like strong women
OH MAN that too scary that tell me alot about Chia Pet Kim
He is one psycho leader I bet only house that has lights in his own cribs LOL!
I don't think that Condi would go to North Korea unlike Maddy not Too Bright I don't think Little Kim like strong women
North Korea? Nothing an Ohio-class submarine cant fix.
The ROC would still be on the mainland and Taiwan would never have to face the threat of communism/neo-fascism it does today if MacArthur had his way with both North Korea AND China.
Whoops!
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