US alludes to possibly withdrawing missile defense system from Asia

Posted on : 2013-04-15 11:44 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
While visiting Beijing, Secretary of State John Kerry seeks Beijing’s help in reining in North Korea
 Apr. 13. Kerry sought China’s help in easing tensions on the Korean peninsula.
 
Apr. 13. Kerry sought China’s help in easing tensions on the Korean peninsula.  

By Jung E-pil, staff reporter and Seong Yeon-cheol, Beijing correspondent

The US has made a proposal to China to reduce or withdraw the missile defense network it is building in East Asia as a way of defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

This is the strongest and most specific proposal Washington has made since the tensions began. With the measures emphasizing China’s role as the only country will any real influence over North Korea, the question now is how Beijing will react.

Speaking at an Apr. 13press conference at Beijing’s Daoyutai Hotel, US Secretary of State John Kerry suggested that the US might withdraw its newly strengthened missile defense network if North Korea ends its nuclear program.

Kerry, who was attending the press conference prior to his departure after meeting earlier with President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders, said he had explained to the Chinese leaders why the US has needed to beef up its East Asia network recently. He also reported proposing a withdrawal.

“Obviously if the threat disappears, i.e. North Korea denuclearizes, the same imperative does not exist at that point of time for us to have that kind of robust forward leaning posture of defense,” he said at the conference. “And it would be our hope in the long run, or better yet in short run, that we can address that.”

Kerry stressed that the pledges made earlier the day were “not just rhetoric”, adding, “There is no question in my mind that China is very serious - very serious - about denuclearizing.”

He went on to say that he and the Chinese leaders had agreed on “further discussions to bear down very quickly with great specificity on exactly how we will accomplish this goal.” In particular, he said senior officials from Washington, including Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Martin Dempsey and deputy secretary of state William Burns would be dispatched to China.

Analysts are expecting further action from Washington and Beijing to win Pyongyang over and relax the tensions.

There was no word by Apr. 14 on the reaction from Beijing, but Beijing University professor Jin Jingyi said Kerry’s statement “seemed in a sense to be aimed at allaying China’s concerns about the US expanding its military presence in East Asia amid the tensions over the North Korean nuclear program.”

Indeed, Beijing has objected strongly to the missile defense system, calling it a means of encircling China as part of Washington’s “pivot to Asia”.

The New York Times said Washington’s proposal appeared to be part of a diplomatic strategy to get China to take action as the only country with any real influence on North Korea. Officials accompanying Kerry told the BBC that the point of the Secretary of State’s tour of South Korea, China, and Japan, which started on Apr. 12, was to get China to use its pull.

The New York Times also predicted that the proposal could trigger concerns from US hard liners, who have advocated the missile defense network as a way of countering China’s growing military strength.

On Apr. 3, the US announced that it was speeding up efforts to build a state-of-the-art Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) network at a military base on Guam in the next few weeks. The system was originally scheduled to be in place around 2015.

On March 15, US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced plans to position ballistic interception missiles on the Pacific coast, at a cost of US$1 billion. The missiles would be capable of responding to an intermediate range missile launch from North Korea.

If the plan is implemented, the number of terrestrial launch interception missiles in California and Alaska would increase from 30 to 44 by 2017.

 

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

 

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)

Related stories

Most viewed articles