U.S. won't accept North Korea as nuclear state

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Saturday that the United States would not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea and sternly warned it against transferring any nuclear material.

In a speech to an Asian defense conference in Singapore, Gates also said the threat from North Korea, which this week detonated a nuclear device and launched a series of missiles, could trigger an arms race in Asia.

"We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in the region or on us," Gates said. "We will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state."

Compounding tensions on the Korean peninsula, a South Korean newspaper quoted a source in Washington as saying Pyongyang was preparing to move an intercontinental ballistic missile from a factory near the capital to a launch site on the east coast.

Increasingly belligerent North Korea has warned of war, saying it was no longer bound by an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War and threatened further provocations in response to U.N. Security Council censure.

Gates said the Obama administration would hold North Korea "fully accountable" if it transferred any nuclear material outside its borders.

"The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States and our allies. And we would hold North Korea fully accountable for the consequences of such action."

The statement seemed to harden and broaden the Obama administration's stand on North Korea's recent series of provocations from a regional security issue to a global proliferation threat.

Regional powers are waiting to see what the North might do next after it conducted a nuclear test on Monday. South Korea is on alert on the assessment Pyongyang may make provocative moves using conventional weapons at their heavily armed border.

North Korea has warned of an intercontinental ballistic missile test in anger over U.N. Security Council punishment for what Pyongyang said was a satellite launch on April 5.

"Preparations to move an ICBM from the Saneum Weapons Research Center near Pyongyang by train have been captured by U.S. spy satellites," Saturday's Dong-a Ilbo newspaper quoted a source in Washington knowledgeable about the issue as saying.

The research lab is the North's main center of research and manufacture of long-range missiles, the newspaper said.

South Korea's defense ministry could not immediately comment on the report.

"REAL PAIN" SANCTIONS NEEDED

In New York, the United States and Japan circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to key members, condemning the claimed nuclear test and demanding strict enforcement of sanctions imposed after the North's first atomic test in October 2006.

Gates said North Korea was not a direct military threat now but said sanctions that bring home "real pain" were needed against Pyongyang.

"If (the North Koreans) continue on a path they are on, I think the consequences for stability in the region are significant and I think it poses the potential, the potential for some kind of an arms race in this region," Gates said.

Western diplomats said permanent Security Council members Russia and China have agreed in principle that North Korea should be sanctioned for its nuclear test, but it was not clear what kind of penalties they would support. Both are generally reluctant to approve sanctions.

"Our hope is that all parties concerned will remain cool-headed and take measures to address the problem," Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of general staff of the People's Liberation Army, told the Singapore defense conference.

"Our stand on the issue is consistent. We are resolutely opposed to nuclear proliferation. Our view is that the Korean peninsula should move toward denuclearization."

U.S. officials have urged China to pressure North Korea to step back from nuclear brinkmanship and return to stalled disarmament talks. But many Chinese analysts say Washington overstates Beijing's sway over Pyongyang, as well as their government's willingness to use that influence.

The two Koreas have fought two deadly naval clashes on their disputed maritime border in the past 10 years and the North has warned another could happen.

A U.S. defense official said the United States had observed "above average activity" in the past 24 hours at a site in North Korea that has previously been used to test fire long-range missiles.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said it had seen the number of Chinese fishing boats near the peninsula in the Yellow Sea drop sharply in recent days and is watching the North's activities for indications of aggression.

U.S. won't accept North Korea as nuclear state: Gates | U.S. | Reuters

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