Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 4, 1994 TAG: 9404040133
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The Associated Press and The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"We do not want and will not provoke a war over this or any other issue in Korea," Perry said. "But we will take a very firm stand and strong actions. It's conceivable where those actions might provoke the North Koreans into unleashing a war, and that is a risk that we're taking."
The defense secretary said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that if North Korea does not halt its nuclear weapons program soon, the United States will seek to impose "substantial pressures," beginning with economic sanctions.
He said he would not rule out a pre-emptive military strike if diplomatic and other nonmilitary pressures failed.
Perry said the CIA believes North Korea already has as many as two nuclear bombs and is continuing to develop atomic weapons.
"I know they're lying when they say they're not developing a nuclear program," Perry said.
The United States and the United Nations have been pressing North Korea to let international inspectors examine its nuclear sites. North Korea has given no public indication that it is willing to do so.
In the meantime, the United States and South Korea have postponed deciding on whether to resume joint military exercises.
South Korea's national news agency reported that South Korea will hold off until at least May on its annual war games with the United States.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that North Korea is about six months from doubling its capacity to produce plutonium for atomic weapons.
The United States' primary concern is to stop any further nuclear development in North Korea, but not necessarily to try to take away any nuclear weapons they now have, Perry said.
"We don't have to have results this week or next week. The problems we're concerned about will take a year or two to unfold, so we can be firm, but we can be patient, too," he said.
The United States will continue to employ "imaginative and aggressive diplomatic actions," Perry said.
Asked whether he would rule out a pre-emptive military strike against North Korea under any circumstances, Perry said, "I would not rule anything out or anything in."
But he was careful to say that he thinks war is unlikely.
"This is not an imminent crisis," he said.
Perry said the United States cannot give in to North Korea because "whatever dangers there are in standing up to them now, those dangers are going to be compounded two or three years from now when this plan is finished and they're starting - and they're producing - bombs at the rate of a dozen a year."
China is expected to send a high-ranking delegation to North Korea this month to help defuse the standoff, South Korea's national news agency reported Sunday.
China is North Korea's only major ally.
Keywords:
INFOLINE
by CNB