Military leaders from across the globe believe North Korea's nuclear program poses "the most serious threat" to the Asia-Pacific region, officials said at a high-level meeting that ended Friday.
Military leaders from across the globe believe
North
Korea
's nuclear program poses
"the most serious threat" to the Asia-Pacific region, officials said
at a high-level meeting that ended Friday.
They also agreed on the need to enhance cooperation in maritime security
operations against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, said Gen.
Han Min-koo, chairman of
South
Korea
's Joint Chiefs of Staff, or
JCS.
"Participating countries reached a consensus on the fact that the North
Korean nuclear program presents the most serious threat to regional
security," Han said at a news conference after the Chiefs of Defense
gathering, which involved 26 countries.
U.S. Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, also said the
threat from
North Korea
's
nuclear capabilities was "widely recognized as significant not just to
South
Korea
but region as a whole."
"The next (nuclear) test (by
North
Korea
) would be a very serious
matter for the international community and the
Republic
of
Korea
(
South
Korea
)," he said.
Chosun Ilbo
,
South Korea
's
biggest-selling newspaper, said Thursday North Korea appeared to be preparing
for a third nuclear test, citing an unidentified government source.
U.S.
satellites had detected movements of personnel and vehicles at the site where
the North carried out its first two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, it said.
However, South Korean government officials said there was no concrete evidence
the communist state was readying such a test, saying
Seoul
and its
allies are closely watching developments related to the North's nuclear
facilities.
Another atomic weapons test by
North
Korea
would be provocative, U.S.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday. He said he couldn't
confirm reports
Pyongyang
was
preparing for such a test.
The countries represented at the five-day defense meeting included the
U.S.
,
Russia
, the
U.K.
,
France
,
Japan
,
India
,
Australia
,
New
Zealand
and Southeast Asian nations.
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