Defense chiefs of S. Korea, U.S., Japan to meet over N. Korean nuke test

By Sam Kim

SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's defense minister will hold tripartite talks with his counterparts from the U.S. and Japan in Singapore later this week to discuss counteraction against North Korea's nuclear test, a source said Monday.

"The North's nuclear test will be high on their agenda when the three ministers
meet in Singapore on Saturday on the sidelines of a regional security forum," the
South Korean source said, declining to be named. Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee
was initially scheduled to hold talks with his partners separately.
Lee plans to visit Singapore on Friday to attend the "Shangri-la Dialogue"
organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
The itinerary was shortened from three days to two after North Korean announced
that it conducted its second nuclear test. Lee was to visit China on a three-day
trip beginning on Tuesday, but his stay there was also shortened to two days, the
source added.
"Lee will come back to South Korea on Wednesday before flying out for the forum
in Singapore," the source said. "He cannot afford to stay overseas for so long."
During his visit in Singapore, Lee will also meet with the defense ministers of
New Zealand and Mongolia, the source added.
Tension runs higher than ever on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea said it
detonated a device that Russia says produced a force of up to 20 kilotons. North
Korea conducted its first nuclear test in October 2006.
The country also test-fired a short-range missile on its east coast where it
conducted a long-range rocket launch on April 5.
The two Koreans remain technically at war after their 1950-53 Korean War ended in
a truce rather than a peace treaty.