Gates says U.S. won`t stand idly by as N. Korea boosts might

SINGAPORE, May 30 Kyodo -
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned at an Asian security forum Saturday
that the United States will not ''stand idly by'' as North Korea builds up its
nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.
At the same high-powered forum in Singapore, a top Chinese military official
later Saturday urged all sides to remain '' coolheaded'' in the wake of North
Korea's recent nuclear and missile tests.
''We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to reap
destruction on any target in the region or on us,'' Gates said at the three-day
Shangri-La Dialogue, which began Friday night.
''At the end of the day the choice to continue as a destitute international
pariah or chart a new course is North Korea's alone to make. The world is
waiting,'' he said.
Gates also said the United States will not accept North Korea as a nuclear
weapons state.
Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of China's general staff, acknowledged the
concerns of ''certain countries in the international community, especially
Japan and South Korea'' about North Korea's recent actions.
''We understand your concerns and your worries,'' he said while expressing hope
that ''all parties concerned will be coolheaded and take measured measures to
address the problem.''
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada voiced expectations for a ''strong
new resolution'' from the U.N. Security Council and said the international
community ''will undertake concerted measures for its implementation.''
He called North Korea's nuclear test ''totally unacceptable'' and said it
''constitutes a grave threat to the security not only of Northeast Asia but of
the entire international community when taken together with the enhancement of
its ballistic missile capability.''
Later in the day, Gates and Hamada were joined by South Korean National Defense
Minister Lee Sang Hee for a trilateral meeting in which they agreed to
cooperate to tackle the North Korean nuclear threat.
''It's important for South Korea, Japan and the United States to work together
along with others to combat this problem multilaterally,'' Gates told reporters
after the 45-minute meeting.
''There is a commitment to do just that,'' he said, flanked by his counterparts
from Japan and South Korea.
Hamada said, ''We are able to agree on close trilateral cooperation on response
toward North Korea.''
Lee said North Korea ''perhaps to this point may have mistakenly believed that
it could be perhaps rewarded for its wrong behavior, but that is no longer the
case. We must make North Korea to fully recognize that it will not be rewarded
for its wrong behavior.''
Lee earlier said during the forum he does not see Japan and South Korea
pursuing military cooperation to counter the North Korean threat in the near
term, saying such cooperation is hindered by ''political and diplomatic
factors.''
Military cooperation between the two countries could be possible ''once we have
a change in our historic perspectives,'' he said in response to a question from
the floor.
The South Korean government has called on Japan to ''wholeheartedly reflect''
on its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and has been angered by
occasional denials that Japan waged a war of aggression in Asia in the last
century.
In response to a question from the audience on whether Japan's insecurities
over North Korea's provocations might prompt Japan to pursue nuclear
capability, Gates said, ''I think that the likelihood of that at this point is
remote.''
At the same time, he expressed concern about the risk of North Korea's recent
actions ''creating instability in the region and provoking its neighbors into
taking defensive actions.''
''I think if they continue on the path they are on...I think it poses the
potential for some kind of arms race in this region,'' the U.S. defense chief
said.
The Singapore meetings come as the five permanent Security Council members --
the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- plus Japan and South
Korea continue efforts to finalize a new council resolution.
The major focus of attention has been strengthening the enforcement of
inspections of North Korean cargo as stipulated under Resolution 1718, adopted
in October 2006 after North Korea's first nuclear test.
Meanwhile, North Korea's official media reported Saturday that celebratory
meetings have taken place throughout the country to hail the second successful
nuclear test as ''a great courageous action'' taken in the face of a hostile
United States.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, the Rodong Sinmum newspaper warned
that United States and South Korea appear determined ''to ignite the second
Korean war'' and that their upcoming joint military exercises evidence that.
The only reason hostilities have not broken out, the mouthpiece said, is
because of North Korea's ''war deterrent for self-defense.''
North Korea ''wants peace, but is never afraid of a war,'' it said, while
vowing to ''return fire for fire and counter a hard-line with the toughest
stand.''
==Kyodo