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February 13, 2009

South Korea on Alert as Clinton Prepares Trip to Region
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=22455B3:A6F02AD83191E160AB3DCED19808BCBA7F0EB4B66EA3A89D&
 
Seoul bracing for possible North Korean test of long-range missile
capable of hitting western US; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to
give major foreign policy speech in New York, Friday 
South Korean anti-missile defense systems are on alert, bracing for a
possible North Korean test of a long-range missile capable of hitting
the western United States. South Korean Prime Minister Han
Seung-soo told lawmakers Friday the country is closely monitoring North
Korean movements and that it will be ready for any situation. A
South Korean newspaper reported Friday, Pyongyang is assembling the
Taepodong-2 missile at a launch site along the North Korea's east coast.
The
newspaper quotes sources saying the missile could be test-fired by the
end of the month to coincide with the anniversary of South Korean
President Lee Myung-bak's inauguration. US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton The rising tensions come as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton prepares to visit the region. She
is scheduled to give a major foreign policy address in New York Friday,
before arriving in Asia Sunday for her first overseas trip as the top
U.S. diplomat. The tour will take Clinton to Japan, Indonesia,
South Korea, and China and State Department officials say she will
discuss North Korea's nuclear program. Clinton has called North Korea's
recent behavior unacceptable. But
U.S. officials say it is in North Korea's power to bring about a
positive outcome by keeping its commitments to disable nuclear
facilities and verify information about its nuclear activities. Clinton
will be traveling to the region with the chief U.S. negotiator to the
six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program, Christopher Hill, who
has been nominated as the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq. The
State Department has not confirmed media reports that a former
ambassador to South Korea, Stephen Bosworth, will be named as Hill's
replacement. Bosworth just returned from a five-day visit to North
Korea, where he says officials told him they are willing to talk to the
Obama administration. Also Thursday, President Obama's national
intelligence director told a Senate hearing that North Korea probably
would not use nuclear weapons against the United States unless
Pyongyang was on the verge of military defeat. Dennis Blair says North
Korea's small nuclear arsenal is more for deterrence, international
prestige and coercive diplomacy. Some information for this report was
provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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