U.S. wary of unpredictability in N. Korea after succession rumors: commander

SEOUL, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- A senior U.S. military officer stressed Wednesday the
need to closely watch North Korea, citing unpredictability involving a possible
power transition following rumors of the health problems of its reclusive leader,
Kim Jong-il.

"Nuclear-armed North Korea chooses to provoke on the brink of succession,"
Admiral Robert Willard told reporters accompanying U.S. Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates to his trip to Seoul for annual security talks. "North Korea needs
to be watched as an international problem, and for the U.S. it's the whole
government's problem, not just a military challenge."
Willard, who replaced Adm. Timothy Keating on Monday, was apparently referring to
international efforts to denuclearize North Korea through diplomacy.
"When I mentioned the comprehensive approach, it's not a singular military
approach to North Korea, but it's very much about the State Department in
collaboration with other agencies in the U.S.," the commander said.
A flurry of diplomacy is underway for the resumption of six-party talks for the
North's nuclear dismantlement, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan
and Russia.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao flew to Pyongyang earlier this month to meet with Kim
Jong-il, and the North Korean leader expressed his intentions to come back to the
six-party talks, which Pyongyang has boycotted citing U.N. sanctions for its
nuclear and missile tests.
Kim, however, attached the North's participation to the outcome of bilateral
talks with the U.S., which has yet to make a decision on whether to send Stephen
Bosworth, special representative for North Korea policy, to Pyongyang.
Meanwhile, Ri Gun, North Korea's deputy chief to the nuclear talks, is set to
visit the U.S. later this week for possible talks with U.S. officials on the
sidelines of seminars.
"North Korea is a challenge for the region, and was very much a threat to South
Korea for a great many of those years ... it recently has become a more regional
and global issue," Willard said. "The unpredictability of the regime in North
Korea is something that I think the Pacific Command will continue to deal with in
the future, as well as with international community and the whole of the U.S.
government."
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)