N. Korea making 'wrong judgment': defense chiefs

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout; RECASTS lead, headline)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- The defense chiefs of South Korea and China agreed
Tuesday that North Korea made "a wrong judgment and choice" when it went ahead
with its second nuclear test earlier this week, officials said.
Tension is running high in Asia after North Korea detonated a nuclear device on
Monday in what it touted as a "successful test" for the enhancement of its
nuclear weapons program.
North Korea conducted its first test in October 2006. It launched a long-range
rocket in April this year despite warnings that the move would be seen as a
provocative test of ballistic missile technology.
"The Defense Ministers of South Korea and China agreed that North Korea is making
wrong judgments and choices, and that such acts will only isolate the country
further," the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul said in a statement.
The consensus was reached when South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee met
with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Liang Guanglie, the statement said. Lee
visited Beijing earlier Tuesday on a two-day trip that had been arranged before
the atomic test by North Korea.
Lee and Liang examined ways to bolster security exchanges between their
countries, including regular high-level meetings and joint naval exercises, the
statement added.
Since Monday's nuclear detonation, North Korea has fired a set of short-range
missiles on its east coast. South Korean officials said the North may also
conduct missile launches in the west.
Lee will fly on Friday to Singapore, where he will hold tripartite talks with his
U.S. and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of a security forum and discuss
the North Korean issue, his aides said.
South and North Korea remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War
ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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