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U.S military says can defeat nuclear-armed N.Korea

Posted on: Wednesday, 29 June 2005, 05:17 CDT

By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. and South Korean forces can deterand defeat North Korea even if the reclusive communist statehas several nuclear weapons, a senior U.S. military officersaid in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.

Amid growing signs stalled six-country talks on thoseweapons could restart, South Korea's foreign minister saidregional powers trying to coax North Korea back to the tableshould anticipate a possible resumption of the process.

Seoul sent its unification minister to Washington onWednesday for talks with senior U.S. officials including VicePresident Dick Cheney on the nuclear crisis.

The commander of the U.S. forces in South Korea, GeneralLeon LaPorte, said the U.S. military believed North Korea hadone to two nuclear weapons at a minimum, and was also workingto advance its missile program.

"Whether North Korea has one or several nuclear weaponsdoes not change the balance on the peninsula," LaPorte toldSouth Korea's PBC radio in an interview taped on Tuesday,according to a transcript provided by the station.

"The U.S. and the Republic of Korea retain our ability todeter North Korean aggression and, if required, to decisivelydefeat the North Korean threat if they were to threaten SouthKorea," he said.

LaPorte he said the United States was fully committed totalks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons programs andsought a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Those talks involvethe two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

MISSILE PROGRAMME

U.S. officials have repeatedly said Washington has nointention of attacking the North.

LaPorte also said the U.S. military believed the North hada substantial missile program, which included long-rangeintercontinental ballistic missiles that could hit the mainlandUnited States if the North succeeded in increasing their power.

U.S. officials dealing with North Korea's growing nuclearthreat will hold an exercise next month at Washington'sNational Defense University on how to react and anticipateconsequences if a crisis develops, U.S. government sourcessaid.

The university, a leading U.S. military educationinstitution under the direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,has scheduled a "crisis simulation" exercise for July 18.

North Korea said in February it possessed nuclear weaponsand was boycotting the six-party talks, but recently has shownsigns it may return to the table.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told visiting South KoreaUnification Minister Chung Dong-young this month his countrywas prepared to return to negotiations if certain conditionswere met, such as Washington treating Pyongyang as a genuinepartner.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told a newsconference on Wednesday the five countries working to bring theNorth back to the table had been encouraged by Kim's comments.

"Considering these, I believe it will be desirable for theNorth to return to the talks without further delay, and it isalso probably worth anticipating it," Ban said.

"Since North Korea's top leader has indicated a commitmentto the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and awillingness to return to the talks, we look forward to NorthKorea's return to the talks without more delay," Ban said.

On Tuesday, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a NorthKorean diplomatic source as saying Pyongyang was preparing toreturn to the table in the second half of July. Ban declined tocomment on that report.

Source: REUTERS

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