By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, while announcing his national security team led by Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, vowed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran.
`` There is much to do ― from preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to Iran and North Korea, to seeking a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, to strengthening international institutions. I have no doubt that Hillary Clinton is the right person to lead our State Department, and to work with me in tackling this ambitious foreign policy agenda," said Obama. He made the comment at Monday's press conference to officially announce his choice for national security officials in Chicago.
``Hillary's appointment is a sign to friend and foe of the seriousness of my commitment to renew American diplomacy and restore our alliances."
Obama said national security challenges are ``just as grave and just as urgent as our economic crisis."
``The spread of nuclear weapons raises the peril that the world's deadliest technologies could fall into dangerous hands," he said. ``We are fighting two wars. Our old conflicts remain unresolved, and newly assertive powers have put strains on the international system."
On North Korean denuclearization and how to deal with the reclusive regime, Hillary Clinton and President-elect Obama did not always see eye-to-eye.
During this year's U.S. presidential campaign, Obama suggested he would consider establishing direct talks with North Korea. But Clinton seized on the comment, charging on a number of occasions that Obama's reported willingness to meet leaders of Iran, Syria and North Korea was ``evidence of his naivete of foreign policy." But on the six-nation, multilateral framework to disable North Korea's nuclear program, Obama and Clinton appear to agree. They both had said the structure should become a permanent Northeast Asian security forum.
In addition to formally nominating his one-time campaign rival Hillary Clinton as the U.S.'s next top diplomat, Obama also appointed Gen. James Jones, a retired Marine commandant and North Atlantic Treaty Organization supreme commander, as his national security advisor. Obama said he will keep current U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his administration.
Obama also officially nominated Susan Rice, a former assistant secretary of state who has advised Obama on foreign policy issues, as ambassador to the United Nations. Rice was one of the Obama advisors who met with President Lee Myung-bak during his recent trip to Washington for the Group of 20 finance summit.
The appointment of Gen. James Jones, in particular, could have implications for South Korea in coming years. Jones, along with Obama, has shown a strong interest in adding more resources and military personnel to Afghanistan. That means the incoming Obama administration may ask for some kind of South Korean military presence to be dispatched to the Middle Eastern nation.
This could turn out to be a contentious issue, because Seoul has already removed its units from Afghanistan, Bruce Klingner, a Korea specialist at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, told The Korea Times last month. ``So depending on how strongly the Obama administration pushes that, it could become a source of friction."