U.S. President Barack Obama |
USFK Commander Warns Pyongyang of Provocative Acts
By Jung Sung-ki, Michael Ha
Staff Reporters
The top U.S. military commander in South Korea urged North Korea Wednesday to stop taking provocative moves and vowed a seamless combined defense posture against any attack from the North.
In a separate move, the U.S. government approved new sanctions against seven foreign firms, including three North Korean companies, for violating U.S. law aimed at stopping the spread of missiles and other technologies behind weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The measure was announced in the U.S. Federal Register Monday.
Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), said at a security forum in Seoul that Pyongyang should stop its missile exercises and moves to proliferate its nuclear weapons technology.
Sharp's remarks came amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to the North's provocative statements and military moves in recent weeks. News reports said Tuesday that a U.S. military satellite had recently spotted a train carrying a long cylindrical object believed to be a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile heading toward a missile launch site in North Korea.
USFK Commander
Gen. Walter Sharp |
The Taepodong-2 is believed to have a maximum range of 6,700 kilometers enough to hit the U.S. continent with a light payload.
``We're prepared for any contingency, any provocation,'' Sharp, who concurrently serves as chief of the United Nations Command, was quoted by Yonhap News Agency as saying. ``We watch North Korea along with the Republic of Korea very, very closely.''
``It's not only the U.S. and the Republic of Korea that are watching North Korea very carefully. It is the entire world, to see if North Korea will ever come to the point where they become a responsible nation,'' said Sharp
The four-star general said North Korea must ``stop the provocations that have been going on, whether it is declaring old agreements to be no longer valid or missile technology that they continue to develop.''
South Korea and the United States ``call upon North Korea to abide by the agreements they have made in the past, which includes the complete denuclearization,'' he added.
According to the U.S. Federal Register, the Obama administration signed off on the new sanctions, a measure that was largely prepared by the previous George W. Bush administration. Washington says these specific foreign firms have been targeted for allegedly breaching U.S. trade laws against the proliferation of missiles and other armaments.
The North Korean firms targeted by the U.S. sanctions are Mokong Trading Corp., Korea Mining and Development Corp. and Sino-Ki, according to reports. Other foreign entities named in the measure include two Chinese companies, Bellamax and Dalian Sunny Industries, as well as two Iranian firms, Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group and Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group.
The measure would prohibit these companies from conducting business with American agencies and private companies. It is largely seen as a symbolic measure with no practical business consequences, however, as these firms most likely are not doing business with U.S. entities.
These are the first such measures approved under the Obama administration, which may suggest that the new U.S. government will continue to pursue the previous Bush administration's tough approach on weapons proliferation.
In Wednesday's speech, Sharp said Seoul and Washington had drawn up draft plans to deal with contingency situations on the peninsula, in line with the planned transition of operational control of South Korea troops during wartime from the U.S. military to Korean commanders.
South Korean forces will take the lead in case of war with the U.S. military shifting to an air- and naval-centric supporting role under the new plans, he said.
To that end, the allies will establish a joint air operations command at the U.S. air force base in Osan, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, the commander said. The command will be led by a U.S. air force general, according to sources.
In 2007, Seoul and Washington agreed on a range of command rearrangements to end the decades-long U.S.-led combined force mechanism. Under the agreements, the two militaries will set up their own theater commands after deactivating the Combined Forces Command.
The two sides will establish a military cooperation center to help facilitate joint operations in wartime.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr
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