Asian countries that keep North Korea "afloat" must make clear they will halt that assistance if Pyongyang does not abandon its nuclear and missile programs, US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said yesterday.
Speaking at a regional security conference that drew nearly two dozen defense officials, he said he believed a peaceful solution to the North Korean crisis was possible but only if key countries worked together to persuade Pyongyang its current path is a "blind alley."
"Countries of the region that are helping keep North Korea afloat need to send a message to North Korea that they're not going to continue doing that if North Korea continues down the road its on," Wolfowitz said.
He noted that most of that help did not come from the US but from other countries in the region, including China, South Korea and Japan, and "that's why a multilateral approach ... is essential."
Washington has demanded communist North Korea give up its suspected nuclear weapons program and has refused to engage in direct bilateral talks.
Although still officially open to another round of negotiations with Pyongyang, US officials have increasingly talked about raising the pressure on Pyongyang's reclusive regime by cracking down on the limited hard currency and other sources that allow it to carry on operating.
China is North Korea's main benefactor, supplying food and fuel, but South Korea has been a major source of investment and assistance and some US$200 million to US$300 million in remittances flow from Japan to North Korea annually.
Beyond that, Pyongyang is believed to get most of its hard currency earnings through sales of illegal drugs and missiles and through counterfeiting. Some US officials have said they are examining ways to interrupt those activities.
While acknowledging concern about North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons, Wolfowitz said he did not see a quick fix for the problem and argued that a "slower more patient approach" would be in order.
He told the conference sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies that the sooner the US and its allies reached consensus on a strategy for North Korea, "the more quickly we may be able to get them [North Koreans] to confront reality."
Despite the growing nuclear threat from North Korea, the US is pushing forward with plans to reconfigure its troop presence in South Korea and Japan and has been engaged in separate intense negotiations with both countries.
Ideas on the table include the possibility of withdrawing some forces from South Korea altogether and moving others away from the North-South Korean border while improving mobility and high-tech capability.
There are 100,000 US troops in Asia, most of them in South Korea and Japan.
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