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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| S. Korea, U.S., Japan pledge joint action against N. Korea |
| 2009-05-31 |
| SINGAPORE, May 30 (Yonhap) -- The defense ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan pledged Saturday to press North Korea until the communist state understands it will not be rewarded for its provocation. The talks between the defense heads of the three countries took place on the sidelines of a security forum in Singapore, less than a week after Pyongyang conducted its second atomic test. The meeting, the first of its kind, also coincided with apparent preparations by North Korea to test-launch a long-range ballistic missile on its east coast. "The talks could not have come at a better time," South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee told reporters after his meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada. "North Korea may have mistakenly believed that it could perhaps be rewarded. But that is no longer the case." Lee said, adding that the three ministers converged on the thought. "We must make North Korea clearly recognize it will not be rewarded for its wrong behavior." Gates stressed the significance of cooperation between the three countries to address the threat posed by North Korea, which has fired a series of short-range missiles since the nuclear test Monday. "Of course, the bulk of our conversation focused on North Korea," said Gates, who said earlier in the day that his country would hold North Korea "fully accountable" for consequences if it is found to proliferate its nuclear and weapons technology. "Our goal is complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We will not accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state," he said, speaking alongside his counterparts. "It is important for the Republic of Korea, Japan and the United States to work together, along with others, to combat this problem multilaterally," Gates said. "My sense, being here this weekend, is that there's a commitment to do just that." "We were able to agree on close trilateral cooperation on response toward North Korea," Hamada said. "We would like to further develop our trilateral cooperation." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 I'm sure Thailand will be glad to lend a helping hand, as well. The Chinese have been interfering in Thai politics since before the Vietnam war. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-05-31 13:04 |
| #4 And Taiwan. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2009-05-31 11:15 |
| #3 Invite India and Vietnam to the US-Japan-S.Korea party |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-05-31 10:26 |
| #2 Kimmy getting Japan and South Korea to 'cooperate' is about on the same level of just getting Japan to rearm. Congrats. When you see a joint Japanese and South Koran exercise like 'Team Spirit' has been for the US and South Korea, the punters in Beijing will really grasp the consequences of allowing their charge to go feral. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-05-31 07:56 |
| #1 Just poison Kimmy's Hennessy and be done with it.... Tell the lawyers they have the day off before doing it. Oh, and no records at all. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2009-05-31 01:47 |