NOKOR NUKE THREAT IMMINENT, SAYS JAPAN
Asean defense ministers express grave concern over North Korea’s nuclear program as their Japanese counterpart urges calibrated and different responses to meet the danger posed by Pyongyang.
CLARK FREEPORT— The threat from North Korea has grown to a “critical and imminent level” and the United States, Japan and South Korea must deal with the matter, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told his US and South Korean counterparts in talks on Monday.
Onodera’s remarks underscored the deep concern in Tokyo after North Korean weapons tests, including testfiring missiles over Japan, as Pyongyang seeks to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States.
His comments broke from more measured language on Monday by US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo, as the three men met on the sidelines of the 11th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Defense Ministers’ Meeting here.
Calibrated response
“[The] threat posed by North Korea has grown to the unprecedented, critical and imminent level. Therefore, we have to take calibrated and different responses to meet with that level of threat,” Onodera said, speaking through an interpreter, at the start of security talks.
South Korea’s Song also acknowledged that “North Korea’s provocative behavior is becoming worse and worse,” in public remarks before reporters were escorted out of the meeting room.
Mattis renewed sharp criticism of North Korea’s tests, saying they “threaten regional and global security.”
Mattis, who kicked off a weeklong trip to the region on Monday, has been eager to emphasize diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully as escalating tension between Washington and Pyongyang stoked fears of “armed confrontation.”
Asked about his conversation with Onodera after the two met earlier in the day before joining South Korea’s Song, Mat- tis said they discussed “maintaining stability and peace in support of the diplomats.”
Carter initiative
Former US President Jimmy Carter said he was willing to travel to North Korea on behalf of the Trump administration to help defuse the situation, according to The New York Times.
Mattis has been more cautious in his public remarks than US President Donald Trump, who has been locked in awar of wordswith North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, threatening to destroy North Korea if necessary to defend the United States and its allies.
Kim has blasted Trump as “mentally deranged.”
Trump’s recent remark that “only one thing will work” with North Korea fueled concerns of a potential conflict.
But even some White House advisers say US military options are limited when Pyongyang could launch an artillery barrage on the South Korean capital, Seoul, only around 50 kilometers from the heavily fortified border and home to 10 million people.
Mattis’ trip, which will include a stop in Thailand, comes before Trump’s first visit to Asia next month, including a stop in China.
‘Grave concern’
Mattis and his Asian counterparts vowed to step up diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang while enhancing military cooperation.
In a joint statement, Asean defense ministers expressed “grave concern” over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and urged the reclusive country to meet its international obligations and resume com- munications.
They underscored the “need to maintain peace and stability in the region” and called “for the exercise of self-restraint and the resumption of dialogue to deescalate tensions [on] the Korean Peninsula.”
The Pentagon said Mattis and his Asean counterparts also discussed “the need to increase cooperation on countering violent extremism to stem the threat posed from groups” such as the Islamic State (IS) group and “the threat posed by returning foreign fighters.”
A five-month battle against IS supporters in Marawi City that claimed more than 1,000 lives ended following a final confrontation between government troops and the terrorists inside a two-story building on Monday.