Obama shy of threatening military response to N. Korean provocations

(ATTN: ADDS remarks of Gibbs, Kelly in 8th para, at bottom)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, June 22 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday his
administration is prepared for any contingencies from North Korea, but fell short
of threatening a military response to North Korea's recent provocations.

"This administration and our military is fully prepared for any contingencies,"
Obama said on CBS's "Early Show."
Asked if that remark was a warning of a military response, Obama said, "No, it's
just we are prepared for any contingencies. I don't want to speculate on
hypotheticals."
The remarks come amid reports that North Korea is preparing for a ballistic
missile launch in defiance of the U.N. resolution adopted after the North's
nuclear test on May 25, the second since 2006.
The resolution bans North Korea from conducting any further nuclear and ballistic
missile tests and allows an overall arms embargo and cargo inspections, meanwhile
imposing more financial sanctions than under previous resolutions adopted in 2006
when the reclusive communist state conducted nuclear and long-range missile
tests.
The president said he wanted to "give assurances to the American people that the
t's are crossed and the i's are dotted in terms of what might happen."
"More broadly, I think the international community here has spoken," he said,
"when you've got Russia and China, as well as South Korea, Japan, the United
States, the entire Security Council, saying unequivocally that North Korea has
violated international law and is willing to impose tougher sanctions."
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs buttressed Obama's remarks, saying, "I can
assure you and anybody listening -- anybody in Hawaii, anybody in the United
States -- that the government is taking every precaution necessary to deal with
threats throughout the world, or threats that might be coming from the North
Koreans. That's, obviously, the president's first task, is to keep the American
people safe."
Obama left the door open for dialogue with North Korea.
"And one of the things that we have been very clear about is that North Korea has
a path towards rejoining the international community, and we hope they take that
path," he said.
North Korea threatened to boycott the six-party talks on ending its nuclear
weapons programs, to enhance its nuclear arsenal and to conduct more ballistic
missile tests unless the U.N. apologizes for the sanctions.
Obama said he will not bow to brinkmanship.
"What we're not going to do is to reward belligerence and provocation in the way
that's been done in the past," he said.
Obama was echoing his position expressed early last week in a joint press
conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Washington.
Obama said at that time he would not bow to the North's traditional brinkmanship,
noting, "There's been a pattern in the past where North Korea behaves in a
belligerent fashion and if it waits long enough is then rewarded with foodstuffs
and fuel and concessionary loans and a whole range of benefits."
Lee also said that the "North Koreans will come to understand that this is
different, that they will not be able to repeat the past, or their past tactics
and strategies."
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said last week that he had directed the
deployment of interceptors to Hawaii and Alaska to block any North Korean
ballistic missile coming toward U.S. territory.
The Obama administration last month cut back a plan that would have increased the
number of interceptors to 44 from 30 due to budget constraints, but
administration officials have insisted that 30 interceptors are enough to counter
North Korea's missile capability "for some years to come."
In a show of a resolution for full implementation of the U.N. resolutions, the
U.S. military has been closely monitoring a North Korean vessel, the Kang Nam,
believed to be carrying weapons of mass destruction, since its departure from a
North Korean port Tuesday.
U.N. Resolution 1874, adopted to punish North Korea for its nuclear test last
month, does not allow the use of force to implement the sanctions.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told a daily news briefing that he
would "not go into details of any specific ship, except that of course as always
we call upon North Korea to refrain from provocative actions."
"What we're focused on, especially here at the State Department, is, we're
focused on a vigorous enforcement of Resolution 1874," he said. "And of course
ship inspections are an important element of this resolution. And we also call
upon other U.N. member states to enforce 1874."
Kelly said Friday he hopes that "North Korea would comply with international law
and allow the inspection," describing the Kang Nam as "a ship of interest."
It is illegal under international law to inspect any suspect cargo in the high
seas unless the flag state consents.
Reports said that the U.S. may ask Singapore, Myanmar or any other Southeast
Asian country to refuse refueling the North Korean ship and inspect it if the
ship docks at one of their ports.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)