|
N Korea missile: US will respond
23/06/2006 08:29 - (SA)
Seoul - South Korea's top official on dealings with the North cautioned the communist nation on Friday that it won't be able to force a change in US policy by firing a long-range missile, while American officials said Pyongyang will face repercussions for a launch.
"It seems clear that even if North Korea fires a missile, the United States would not make a compromise," Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok told a parliamentary committee.
A top Pentagon official said on Thursday in Washington that a missile launch would be "a provocation and a dangerous action" that would spurn the United States to take unspecified action in response.
"If such a launch takes place we would seek to impose some cost on North Korea," Peter Rodman, assistant secretary of defence for international security policy, told a House armed services committee hearing.
"That is the minimum response that you would expect of us."
Reports that missile being fuelled
There have been conflicting reports about whether the missile is being fuelled, a possible sign that a launch was nearing. Intelligence reports say fuel tanks have been seen around the missile at the North's launch site on its north-eastern coast, but officials say it's difficult to determine if a rocket is actually being fuelled by looking at satellite photos.
"We still hope that they recognise that launching that missile would only isolate them further, and that they will make the right decision and not launch the missile," US Ambassador to South Korean Alexander Vershbow said on Friday in Seoul.
Concerns over regional stability
The concerns over a potential launch have prompted China and Russia - Pyongyang's last two major allies - to issue warnings against the North in the toughest pressure yet against a launch.
The Russian foreign ministry summoned North Korean Ambassador Pak Ui Chun on Thursday and expressed its opposition to any steps that would affect regional stability.
China also urged the North on Thursday to return to the nuclear talks, which Pyongyang has boycotted since November in anger over US moves to restrict its alleged illegal financial activity.
US tested missile defence system
On Thursday, the Bush administration spurned a suggestion by former US defence secretary William Perry that the United States launch a pre-emptive strike against the North Korean missile in an opinion article published on Thursday in The Washington Post.
"We think diplomacy is the right answer and that is what we are pursuing," US national security adviser Stephen Hadley said. "The way out of this is for North Korea to decide not to test this missile."
The US military on Thursday said it had successfully tested a missile defence system in a test against a medium-range missile in a previously scheduled exercise.
Hadley said the US missile defence system had "limited operational capability" to protect against weapons such as the long-range missile the North is possibly moving to launch.
- AP
|
News
