North Korea tops agenda at defense meet in Malaysia Associated Press
November 14, 2006
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- North Korea and its nuclear threat were expected to dominate talks launched Tuesday in Malaysia by top military officials from the US, Japan, South Korea, and 20 other countries.
"It's [North Korea] a challenger that concerns us all. We want to put everything on the table," said Admiral William Fallon, commander of the US Pacific Command. "We'd like to hear people's views, particularly in the challenge with North Korea."
The ninth Chief of Defense Forces' conference brings together top defense and military leaders from 23 countries including nuclear powers United States, France and Pakistan, along with Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and several Southeast Asian nations, among others.
Most of the sessions and papers being presented at the two-day conference are off-limits to media.
Japanese Self Defense Forces chief of staff Admiral Takashi Saito will present a closed-door paper titled "Managing the Expanding Missile Threat" to his counterparts Tuesday, an official program said, although it made no specific reference to North Korea.
Fallon said the Pentagon wants to hear what other countries think of Pyongyang's October 9 nuclear detonation, and was seeking a "good understanding of what's going on and the views of all that are here."
"We have a reality of a country that has the capability of long-range missiles, that certainly has a history of making statements and doing things that are unsettling," Fallon told reporters, referring to North Korea.
"The long-term goal is to provide security and stability to our people," he said.
North Korea agreed earlier this month to return to negotiations with China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States, after staying away from the nuclear talks for a year.
"The business of missile defense is something that's important because these capabilities, these weapons are destabilizing in many respects, and are threatening to people and we've seen this now for a number of years," Fallon said.
China, considered Pyongyang's closest ally, is not attending the conference in Malaysia's biggest city, Kuala Lumpur.
Other topics include presentations on counterinsurgency by the Philippines, and on disaster response by Indonesia's Air Chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto.
Singapore's Chief of Defense Forces Major General Ng Yat Chung said he will be "discussing how we can improve the way we cooperate on maritime security issues and improve communications."
Host Malaysia shares the 550-mile (900-kilometer) long Strait of Malacca, the world's busiest shipping lane, with Singapore and Indonesia.
Both Washington and Singapore have pushed for improved cooperation between countries lying along the strait in an attempt to reduce any threat posed by terrorists intending to strike at the more than 50,000 vessels plying the sea lane annually.
