U.S. urges N. Korea to refrain from test-firing ballistic missile

(ATTN: UPDATES with DOD spokesman's remarks in paras 5-8)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- The United States Wednesday urged North Korea to
refrain from test-firing another ballistic missile, its first long-range launch
in more than two years, and making threats of war to escalate tensions in the
Korean Peninsula.
"We've said, over and again, we remain concerned about some of North Korea's
behavior in the international community," State Department spokesman Robert Wood
said in a daily news conference. "And we've encouraged the North not to take any
steps that will, you know, create any kind of tensions in the region. And so we
don't want to see provocative acts on the part of the North that will raise
tensions."
Wood was speaking about remarks made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a day
earlier that she hoped North Korea's recent threats will not lead to actions
undermining regional security.
North Korea in recent weeks has been threatening South Korea with cutting off of
bilateral ties, nullification of a western sea border and a possible military
conflict, in gestures apparently aimed at the new Obama administration.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman also warned against North Korea's possible
test-firing of another ballistic missile.
"It has always been our position that North Korea should refrain from provocative
actions that might aggravate tensions in the region," Whitman said. "More missile
testing by the North Koreans also could disrupt the six-party talks, in which
North Korea, South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia are
negotiating an end to North Korea's nuclear program."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates Tuesday hinted that the U.S. might intercept a
Taepodong-2 ballistic missile should one approach American territory, saying, "My
colleagues, the secretary of state, national security adviser, president and vice
president, understand what our capabilities are."
Gates was apparently referring to the U.S. missile defense system, which reported
successfully intercepting ballistic missiles in a training mission last year amid
controversy over the effectiveness of U.S. missile defense capabilities.
Clinton Tuesday urged North Korea not to make the kind of "unacceptable" threats
it has issued recently, and hoped that those are "not a precursor of any action
that would up the ante, or threaten the stability and peace and security of the
neighbors in the region."
She also reiterated her pledge to continue six-party talks to "determine the most
effective way forward" for North Korea's denuclearization.
Clinton, embarking on a four-nation Asian tour Sunday, including South Korea,
said she hoped the multilateral talks will resume "in the weeks and months
ahead," the first clear indication of a timeline for the talks that stalled in
December over how to verify North Korea's nuclear facilities.
Obama has not yet appointed a special envoy for North Korea. There is conjecture
that the new president may have difficulty in nominating one, amid slim chances
of persuading the North to abandon its nuclear arsenal after nearly two decades
of negotiations have exhausted all the options for the U.S. The North Korean
nuclear crisis broke out in the early 1990s.
North Korea detonated its first nuclear device in 2006.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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