N. Korea could soon pose threat to US: Gates

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/N_Korea_could_soon_pose_threat_to_US_Gates_999.html Beijing (AFP) Jan 11, 2011 US Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned Tuesday that North Korea could have long-range ballistic missiles within five years that would pose a direct threat to the United States, reflecting growing concerns over Pyongyang's arsenal. His comments represented a shift in the US view of North Korea's military power, describing the hardline regime in Pyongyang as making headway in its efforts to develop missiles that could potentially carry nuclear warheads.
"I think North Korea will have developed an intercontinental ballistic missile within that timeframe (five years)," Gates told reporters during a visit to Beijing, where he discussed tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Gates, who met Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday, said he had conveyed to the Communist leaders in Beijing that their allies in Pyongyang would soon present a danger to the United States.
"With the North Koreans' continued development of nuclear weapons and their development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, North Korea is becoming a direct threat to the United States and we have to take that into account," he said.
North Korea has test-fired three ICBMs, most recently in April 2009 when one flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific.
Gates said the North could have a "limited" number of such missiles in five years, placing the US Pacific coast under potential threat.
The Pentagon chief said the United States appreciated the "helpful role" played by Beijing in recent months in containing the Korean crisis, after Pyongyang shelled a South Korean island in November, killing four people.
But he also said there had been a "sea change" in attitudes in South Korea, with the country's population outraged over Pyongyang's recent "provocations."
"Their tolerance for not responding has changed," he said.
Apart from the November 23 attack on Yeonpyeong island

, the North stands accused by the South of torpedoing a warship last March with the loss of 46 lives. Pyongyang denies the charge.
The angry public reaction in South Korea had changed the "status quo" and it was vital that North Korea took actions to resolve the crisis, he said.
"Rhetoric is not enough at this point. There need to be some concrete actions by the North to demonstrate that they're truly serious about negotiation and engagement," he said.
Positive steps might include the North implementing a freeze on further missile or nuclear tests, he said.
US officials have sometimes expressed impatience with China's approach to North Korea, but Gates made a point of praising Beijing's diplomatic efforts during his visit.
However, his grave assessment of the situation on the divided peninsula and the North's weapons projects amount to renewed US pressure on China to rein in Pyongyang's leadership.
Gates said he expected the issue to come up in meetings later this week in Tokyo and Seoul, and when Hu visits Washington next week.
Pyongyang has expressed conditional willingness to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks that it abandoned in April 2009, a month before staging its second nuclear test.
But it fuelled regional fears in November by disclosing a uranium enrichment plant which could potentially give it a second route to a bomb.
The communist state this week officially proposed "unconditional" dialogue with Seoul, less than two months after the shelling assault.
The South rejected the offer, saying it was willing to hold government

-level talks but only if the North admits responsibility for a series of provocations and confirms a commitment to scrapping its nuclear programme.
North Korea on Tuesday criticised South Korea's response, insisting it was sincere in trying to mend relations after months of tensions.

Related articles

• N.Korea could pose direct threat to US: Gates (alternet.org)
• Gates: N. Korea will be threat to U.S. in 5 years (msnbc.msn.com)
• Gates warns on N Korea missiles (bbc.co.uk)
• You: North Korea will pose direct threat to US: Gates (nation.com.pk)
• North Korea is direct threat to US, says defence secretary Robert Gates (guardian.co.uk)
• Gates sees North Korea 'on a path to becoming a direct threat' (cnn.com)

South Korea Says No to Joint Missile Defense With U.S.

from GSN Daily News

South Korea's Defense Ministry on Saturday said it did not presently intend to participate in a U.S.-headed system for missile defense, the Korea Herald reported (see GSN, June 7).
The ministry, however, said it would look to deepen collaboration between the U.S. program and the Korea Air Missile Defense effort in order to more effectively counter the danger posed by North Korea (see GSN, Oct. 22).
Seoul's antimissile system is structured to safeguard the South from short-range missiles fired by its neighbor while the U.S. system is chiefly designed to protect against medium- and long-range ballistic missile threats.
"South Korea and the U.S. will discuss intelligence sharing and operation of means regarding the missile defense system so as to protect the Korean Peninsula from the threats of North Korean nuclear weapons and its weapons of mass destruction at the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee," the ministry said in a prepared statement.
"This does not mean that we will join the )U.S. missile defense system)," it added. "This means we will strengthen cooperation with the U.S. Forces Korea in the sharing of intelligence and operation of available assets to effectively respond to threats from North Korean ballistic missiles."
Earlier this month in Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young pledged to set up a specialized group as a conduit for collaboration on enhancing the value of the U.S. nuclear umbrella over the South.
"In the past, the U.S. [missile defense] focused primarily on protecting its mainland. However, the concept of the MD has changed into a regional missile defense system," an unidentified ministry official said.
On Friday, Kim said Seoul was "seriously" analyzing whether to participate in the U.S. antimissile program. He emphasized that the effort focused on regional threats in addition to those facing the continental United States.
Seoul has been wary of participating in U.S. missile defense efforts for fear it would aggravate regional powers like Russia and China, according to the Herald (Song Sang-ho, Korea Herald, Oct. 24).

http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101025_1787.php

Proposed Ballistic-Missile Submarine Nears Pentagon Review By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Navy's emerging plans for a new nuclear-armed submarine are slated to undergo a pivotal Defense Department review in November, with the initial backing of a key congressional committee in hand (see GSN, Aug. 10).

(Sep. 27) - A top-level Pentagon board is set in November to review Navy plans for initial work on a next-generation replacement for U.S. Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines, like the one shown above (U.S. Navy photo).

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Sept. 14 said it fully supported the fiscal 2011 plans to perform design, engineering and prototyping work on the next-generation ballistic-missile submarine.
Lawmakers noted, though, that they had imposed a 10 percent reduction in funds on the Obama administration request for $493 million because program delays this past year would prevent the Navy from completing all its earlier anticipated work for 2011. The partial funding would leave the effort with $444.7 million for the coming year.
The Senate panel's counterpart committee in the House has not yet acted on an unreleased subcommittee version of the defense appropriations bill. However, according to one Washington insider, the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee offered full funding for the proposed submarine, dubbed the "SSBN(X)."
With the new fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1, Congress is expected to pass a continuing resolution that would allow the Defense Department to maintain operations temporarily until the appropriations legislation is enacted. For the more formal legislation, defense appropriations would likely be consolidated with other funding bills into an omnibus spending package, sources said.
Meanwhile, the Navy this summer reportedly submitted to Ashton Carter, the Pentagon acquisition czar, its major design recommendations for the new submarine, which is to replace today's Ohio-class vessels.
Carter earlier this month said that to cut costs, the Defense Department would limit the replacement submarine's "size and speed," though he indicated that design details remained classified.
An "emphasis on affordability is already being applied to the next-generation ballistic missile submarine, where we are trimming [design] requirements without compromising critical capability," said Defense Secretary Robert Gates, appearing alongside Carter at a Sept. 14 press briefing.
"The per-unit estimated cost had risen as high as $7 billion. It is now roughly $5 billion," Gates said. "The goal is a reduction of fully 27 percent in a program where total cost is expected to be more than $100 billion."
Design features to be decided during the Defense Acquisition Board meeting, led by Carter, will include how many launch tubes each boat will contain, which could affect the number of weapons the vessel can carry, according to defense sources. Today's Ohio-class submarines feature 24 launch tubes, each of which can shoot a single Trident 2 D-5 ballistic missile.

Obama draws line on Iran policy

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United States President Barack Obama appears to have drawn a line that blocks Defense Secretary Robert Gates' push for a policy that gives Washington reason for threatening Iran if it fails to cut its low enriched uranium stocks and end enrichment. Obama's thinking: There are other ways for Iran to demonstrate its intent not to build a nuclear bomb. - Gareth Porter (Aug 30, '10)