Pentagon's Flournoy to visit China, Japan, S. Korea next week+

WASHINGTON, June 19 Kyodo - Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy will travel to China, Japan and South Korea next week for talks on next steps on the North Korean nuclear and missile threats, a senior Pentagon official said Friday.

Flournoy will first visit Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday for high-level
bilateral defense dialogue. She will then proceed to Tokyo on Thursday and to
Seoul the next day.
The trip comes as the U.S. Navy is monitoring a North Korean ship, the Kang
Nam, under a recently adopted U.N. Security Council resolution's provision for
interdicting vessels suspected of carrying illegal nuclear- or missile-related
cargo.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, voiced hope that China will
search the ship in line with the resolution if the vessel calls at a Chinese
port.
Noting the vessel is a ''ship of interest,'' the official said, ''We expect
China to operate within the guidelines of the U.N. Security Council
resolution.''
''We are operating in support of the U.N. Security Council resolution. We are
urging everybody else involved to operate in conjunction with the Security
Council resolution.''
''This is not something that we're trying to make a unilateral U.S. effort,''
the official said.
North Korea threatens to conduct further missile tests in retaliation for the
U.N. Security Council resolution imposing more sanctions on the reclusive state
for its second nuclear test, which it conducted in May.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday the United States has taken steps
to defend itself due to concern about the possibility of a North Korean missile
launch toward Hawaii.
''We do have some concerns if they were to launch a missile to the west in the
direction of Hawaii,'' he said at a news conference.
Gates said he has directed the deployment of a missile interceptor system known
as Theater High Altitude Area Defense to the U.S. state and the positioning of
a sea-based radar system nearby.
''I would just say I think we are in a good position, should it become
necessary, to protect Americans and American territory,'' the defense chief
said.
A South Korean government source said Wednesday North Korea may have recently
transported a long-range ballistic missile, presumably an improved version of
the Taepodong-2 missile, to a launch site in Musudan-ri on the country's
northeastern coast.
North Korea had reportedly produced three or four intercontinental ballistic
missiles at the research center in Sanum-dong as of the end of last year.
On April 5, North Korea conducted a rocket launch seen as a test of a
long-range missile. The first stage fell into the Sea of Japan and the second
flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific.
On May 25, Pyongyang conducted its second nuclear test and launched three
short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan.
==Kyodo