Gates warns Pyongyang to renounce hostility

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that “diplomatic engagement” with North Korea, starting with direct inter-Korean dialogue, is possible as a next step to deal with the belligerent communist state.

“With regard to next steps on North Korea, diplomatic engagement is possible, starting with direct engagement between DPRK (North Korea) and the South,” Gates said before his talks with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin in Seoul.

“When or if North Korea’s actions show a cause to believe that negotiations can be productive and conducted in good faith, then we could see a return to the six-party talks (aimed at denuclearizing the North).”

His remarks came after North Korea recently made a series of calls for dialogue with its southern neighbor, against which it conducted the two deadly attacks last year that killed 50 South Koreans including two civilians.

Seoul has maintained that before any talks, the communist neighbor should show sincerity and take “responsible measures” for the provocations that sent tensions on the peninsula soaring to their highest level last year.

Observers here said that the remarks by Gates appear to indicate Washington’s support for Seoul’s stance that the aid-for-denuclearization talks, which also involve China, Japan and Russia, can resume only after an improvement in inter-Korean ties.

The top U.S. defense official, who came here for the third and last leg of his week-long three-nation tour of Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul, also called on the North Korean leadership to stop its belligerence.

“DPRK leadership must stop these dangerous provocations and take concrete steps to show they begin meeting their international obligations,” he said.

“We (the two defense chiefs) have much to discuss, we are all concerned about the tense situation on the Korean Peninsula caused by North Korea’s continued belligerence and repeated provocations for the past few months.”

Gates’ brief stop in Seoul is also aimed at underscoring the “robust” alliance between Seoul and Washington, which was forged in blood after the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War, officials here said.

“I thought it was so important to come here and to demonstrate America’s solidarity with our close ally of more than sixty years. In our meeting, I expect to discuss military coordination and consultation in order to deter future provocations,” Gates said.

Minister Kim stressed that the firm alliance with the U.S. will be one of the strong measures against North Korean provocations.

“Only a strong strength will be a measure against North Korean provocations. The source of the strength stems from our robust South Korea-U.S. alliance,” Kim said.

During the talks, Gates also touched on the importance of the conscientious implementation of the Strategic Alliance 2015 ― a plan to ensure the successful transfer of wartime operational control, scheduled for Dec. 1, 2015, ministry officials said. The two sides also concurred on the need to continue to conduct their joint military maritime exercises to deter North Korean threats.

Gates also used part of the talks with Minister Kim to explain the results of his visits to China and Japan this week, officials said. After his talks with Minister Kim, Gates also met with President Lee Myung-bak to discuss a set of bilateral issues including regional security issues concerning North Korea.

During his visit to China, Gates said that North Korea with its continuing development of missiles and nuclear weapons is becoming a “direct” threat to the U.S., noting that the North will have developed an intercontinental missile “within a five-year time frame.”

He also urged the North to impose a moratorium on nuclear and missile testing to help revive the six-party nuclear talks.

After Gates’ remarks on North Korean threats, U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Walter Sharp said that the U.S. and its allied forces could “neutralize” a North Korean missile if North Korea readies a missile that can hit the U.S.

“It’s all part of the capability that North Korea has and ... what we have to be prepared to do is to be able to, No. 1, deter, but if deterrence doesn’t work, be prepared to respond. And that includes the capability that if our national level decides ... to be able to not allow North Korea to shoot a Daepodong missile or an intercontinental ballistic missile,” he said Thursday in an interview with PBS, the American non-profit media enterprise.

Sharp also said that he sees “no” evidence that the North is sincere about putting the brakes on its nuclear programs.

The longest-range North Korean ballistic missile, which has been deployed since 2007, is the Musudan missile with a range of 3,000-4,000 kilometers. This missile, in theory, brings Guam, the key U.S. strategic base in the Asia-Pacific region, within its range.

However, the range of an intercontinental missile that could hit continental U.S. should be longer than at least 8,000-10,000 kilometers, experts say.

The longest-range North Korean missile under development is the Daepodong Two missile, presumed to have a range of more than 6,700 kilometers, far enough to hit parts of Alaska, but still incapable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

All the two test launches of the Daepodong Two missile failed. In July 2006, the missile exploded in the air right after lift-off. In April 2009, what it claimed to be a satellite launch also ended in failure after the rocket fell into the Pacific Ocean, some 3,200 kilometers from the North’s launch site of Musudanri in North Hamgyeong Province.

Some experts say if the North should successfully reduce the weight of the payload, it could develop the Daepodong Two missile into an ICBM with a range of over 8,000 kilometers.

Developing a miniaturized nuclear warhead deliverable by ICBMs still remains a challenge for North Korea although many experts say the North may have accumulated a significant amount of technology for the miniaturization over the past decades.

The North conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Officials here believe that the North has yet to develop nuclear warheads small enough to be mounted on missiles.

To make a warhead mountable on a ballistic missile, the warhead should be 88 centimeters to one meter in diameter and weigh less than 700-1000 kilograms, which requires a significant level of technology, experts said.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)