Nuclear proliferation talks with North Korea to continue, Gates says
Despite criticism from GOP conservatives, Gates says the talks involving the U.S., Russia, China, Japan and North and South Korea are the best way to confront the communist regime on nuclear issues.
SEOUL — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tuesday that despite intelligence allegedly showing that North Korea aided Syria in developing a nuclear facility, the United States would continue six-party talks with the communist regime over its nuclear program.
Gates called North Korea a "serious adversary," but he said he knew of no evidence that it was sharing nuclear capabilities with other countries besides Syria. The talks are the best way to confront the regime on proliferation issues, he said.
"I think that we are dealing with the consequences of the proliferation effort we saw in Syria in the six-party talks, and I think that is the appropriate vehicle for that," Gates said.
The Bush administration has been criticized by some conservatives within the Republican Party for continuing the talks even after North Korea's failure to make a timely disclosure of the full range of its nuclear activities, as required by an agreement reached this year.
The negotiations involve the U.S., Russia, China, Japan and North and South Korea.
The U.S. Defense chief spoke at a news conference at Yongsan Garrison, the American military base in Seoul, after a ceremony marking the change in command of four-star generals who oversee U.S. forces in South Korea. There are 28,500 American military personnel on the peninsula.
The incoming commander, Army Gen. Walter L. Sharp, pledged that the U.S. would continue to provide for South Korea's security even as wartime command of the Asian nation's forces gradually shifted to the Seoul government, a transfer scheduled to be completed in 2012. The South's military currently is part of a combined force overseen by the American commander.
"As an alliance, we must be prepared to fight and win," Sharp said. "Today, we and a majority of Seoul are within the range of North Korean artillery. North Korea claims to possess nuclear weapons. . . . Our allied purpose is to continue to deter aggression on the Korean peninsula."
While in Seoul, Gates also met with South Korea's new defense minister, Lee Sang-hee, to discuss the transfer of command and the gradual move of U.S. forces from Yongsan to new bases south of the capital.
According to a senior U.S. official traveling with Gates, Lee also raised the prospect of working more closely outside East Asia with the U.S. and the international community. Already, South Korea has contributed forces to operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.
"There was a perception in the past that the South Koreans were sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan as a favor to us because we are helping to protect them from the North," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity when discussing the private talks.
"This means an acknowledgment they're not doing it as a favor to us," the official added. "It's part of filling their global role."
peter.spiegel@latimes.com
