Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
President Obama has warned N Korea to end its "belligerent approach"
US Secretary of State John Kerry has said Washington is "ready to defend itself and its allies".
After talks in Seoul with President Park Geun-hye and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Mr Kerry said US and South Korean views were "very much aligned".
He also played down a US intelligence report that said North Korea could be able to launch a nuclear missile.
On Thursday, China carried out a civilian emergency drill in a town near its border with the North.
China's state media said the half-hour exercise covered evacuations and responses to an air raid and was aimed at raising public awareness of disaster prevention and relief.
"Start Quote
End QuoteAmerican officials regularly convey their impression that the Chinese are getting frustrated with Pyongyang. But the frustration rarely translates into Chinese pressure over North Korea or even a public rebuke. "
Mr Kerry's visit to South Korea begins his first trip to Asia since becoming secretary of state.
The trip has been planned for several weeks but correspondents say the rising tensions have given it a new sense of urgency.
Speaking at a news briefing in Seoul with Mr Yun, Mr Kerry said South Korea and the US were "very much aligned and very supported of each others' positions".
He said the US, South Korea and the international community were "all united in the fact that North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power".
"The rhetoric that we're hearing from North Korea is simply unacceptable - by any standard - and I am here to make it clear today on behalf of President Obama and the citizens of the United States and our bilateral security agreement, that the United States will, if needed, defend our allies and defend ourselves."
The US had "lowered its rhetoric" in recent weeks and was trying to find a way of "reasonableness to prevail", he said.
Mr Kerry will travel to China on Saturday - North Korea's only ally - and said he would ask Beijing to use its influence to rein in Pyongyang, saying it was "clear to everybody in the world that no country in the world has as close a relationship or as significant an impact on [North Korea] than China".
Mr Kerry said hoped that the US and Beijing would be able to "lay out a path that will defuse this tension".
Analysis
If true, the leaked US Defence Intelligence Agency's (DIA) assessment that North Korea "has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles" suggests that Pyongyang has made significant progress in its efforts to design and miniaturise a warhead.
But this conclusion is tentative and perhaps in an effort to reduce tensions the Pentagon followed up with a statement saying that "it would be inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has fully tested, developed or demonstrated" this kind of capability."
So does Pyongyang have a deliverable nuclear warhead or not? The jury must be still out. The DIA assessment is in effect a glimpse of the intelligence process in action; building upon raw data and analysis; making tentative conclusions; and perhaps eventually firming them up.
The current crisis over a potential North Korean missile test or tests remains much as it was. But the ultimate stakes are higher as the trajectory of Pyongyang's ambitions becomes ever clearer.
He also played down a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report - a declassified section of which was disclosed by a US Congressman - which said there was "moderate" confidence that Pyongyang had developed the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile.
He reiterated the Pentagon's view was that it was "inaccurate" to suggest Pyongyang had a working and tested nuclear warhead.
North Korean holidaySouth Korea is on a high state of alert amid indications that the North is preparing for a missile test.
Pyongyang has moved two Musudan ballistic missiles to its east coast. Estimates of their range vary, but some suggest the missiles could travel 4,000km (2,500 miles).
That would put US bases on Guam within range, although it is not believed that the Musudan has been tested before.
US President Barack Obama has urged Pyongyang to end its "belligerent approach... and to try to lower temperatures".
He has warned "the United States will take all necessary steps to protect its people".
China, meanwhile, has denied reports that it is deploying troops along the North Korean border.
US media on leaked report
The New York Times says there is clearly "deep concern" in Obama administration about the publicising of the report, hence the rush to "qualify the conclusion". But it adds that outside experts say the report could explain why the US has boosted its missile defences in recent weeks.
Ernesto Londono in the Washington Post notes that the reference to the unreliability of any North Korean weapon "presumably reflected concerns about the accuracy of the ballistic missiles in North Korea's arsenal as well as the technical difficulties of miniaturizing nuclear devices". But he says experts view it as the most specific US assessment yet on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
The Wall Street Journal says the disagreement in Washington over the report is a sign the high tensions over "how best to address the North Korean threat without triggering precipitous reactions from US allies in North Asia". Dion Nissenbaum and Jay Solomon write: "The White House has made an effort to rein in tensions and more tightly control the message, but as the varying interpretations of Pyongyang's abilities show, that can be difficult on politically charged issues."
A defence ministry official said Beijing was "paying close attention to the development of the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and has always been committed to safeguarding peace and stability in Northeast Asia," the state Xinhua news agency reported.
North Korea has increased its warlike rhetoric following fresh UN sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test in February and joint military manoeuvres by the US and South Korea.
The North says it will restart a mothballed nuclear reactor, has shut an emergency military hotline to the South and has urged countries to withdraw diplomatic staff, saying it cannot now guarantee their safety.
However, in the past few days North Korea's media appear to be in more of a holiday mood, due to the approach of Monday's celebrations marking the birth of national founder Kim Il-sung - a potential launch date for a new missile test.
On Thursday, foreign ministers from the G8 group of nations condemned in the "strongest possible terms" North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Kerry renews S Korea defence pledge
Dengan url
http://gemukesehatan.blogspot.com/2013/04/kerry-renews-s-korea-defence-pledge.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Kerry renews S Korea defence pledge
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Kerry renews S Korea defence pledge
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar