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11 October 2006 |
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http://rawstory.com/news/2006/US_to_strengthen... |
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Washington - The United States will strengthen military cooperation with Japan and South Korea, including the development of ballistic missile defence, following North Korea's claim of a successful nuclear test, US President George W Bush said Wednesday. "North Korea has once again chosen to reject the prospect for a better future offered by the six-party joint statement. Instead, it has opted to raise tensions in the region," Bush said at a White House press conference. North Korea on Monday announced that it had detonated a nuclear weapon for the first time, sparking international condemnation, even from its closest ally, China, which has endorsed punitive steps from the UN Security Council. The United States has an agreement with Japan to share missile defence capabilities and has vowed to defence Japan and South Korea against threats from North Korea. "In response to North Korea's provocation, we will increase defence cooperation with our allies, including cooperation on ballistic missile defence to protect against North Korean aggression," Bush said. Bush said it was critical that the Security Council made it clear to North Korea that there will be "serious repercussions" for conducting a nuclear test, and that US intelligence were still trying to verify Pyongyang's claim of a detonation. Bush defended his decision to pursue six-nation talks to resolve the standoff with North Korea during his first term in office in response to criticism from opposition Democrats that he should have granted the Stalinist state's demand for one-on-one negotiations with the United States. Bush cited North Korea's violation of a 1994 bilateral agreement with Washington to halt nuclear activities as the key reason for getting other countries, especially China, involved in the process. "What's changed since then is that we now have other parties at the table who have made it clear to North Korea that they share the same goals of the United States, which is a nuclear-weapons-free peninsula," he said.
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