Text Fwd: [ROK] Defense chief warns NK over provocation 한국 국방 장관, 아태 장관 회의에서 북한에 도발에 대해 경고

Korea Times
Defense chief warns NK over provocation
Oct. 19, 2010
By Jung Sung-ki

North Korea’s attack on a South Korean warship in March posed a grave challenge and threat to the international order, the South’s defense chief said Tuesday.

The frigate Cheonan was sunk in waters off the disputed sea border with the North, and a Seoul-led multinational investigation team concluded that the vessel was torpedoed by a North Korean submarine.

“A military provocation like the Cheonan sinking not only threatens the security of South Korea but also the peace and security of the entire Asia-Pacific region,” Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said in his keynote speech at the Chiefs of Defense (CHOD) conference. “This is a very serious problem.”

Top defense officials from 27 countries in the Asia-Pacific region are participating in the five-day CHOD meeting at a Seoul hotel beginning Monday to discuss regional security issues and ways to enhance their military cooperation and exchanges.

The international community should awaken Pyongyang to the stringency of the international order and guide the regime to take responsibility for its behavior, Kim said.

He also expressed concern about North Korea’s “unreasonable” ambition for nuclear and long-range missile programs.

“I and other ASEAN defense chiefs shared the view about looming challenges and conflicts in the region,” Kim said, citing his attendance at the first ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+) in Hanoi on Oct. 12.

Other factors that could potentially destabilize the Asia-Pacific region include territorial disputes on islands and maritime zones, history distortion, new nationalism, climate change, energy and food security, terror attacks, natural disasters and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, said Kim.

The March 26 sinking of the warship Cheonan killed 46 South Korean sailors. North Korea has denied any involvement in the incident.

Among the participants at CHOD are Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Maj. Gen. Jonathan Shaw, Britain’s assistant chief of defense staff for international policy, and Gen. Ryoichi Oriki, Japan’s chief of joint self-defense force.

During the plenary sessions, participants will discuss four major themes ― civilian and military cooperation during international peace activities; green growth and the military’s role; the multinational planning argumentation team; and international cooperation in maritime security.

The U.S. PACOM created the CHOD conference in 1998 to discuss military cooperation in the region to deal with a series of issues, including religious conflicts and transnational threats which have arisen following the end of the Cold War in 1989.

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Asia Pacific Command
Thirteenth Annual Chiefs of Defense Conference Begins
By U.S. Pacific Command Public Affairs
Oct. 18, 2010

Nations representatives attending include: Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, France, India, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

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Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Text Fwd [Korea MND news] Asia-Pacific defense chiefs meeting to be held
[국방부 뉴스] 아시아 태평양 국방 장관들, 10월 18일 부터 5일간 모임