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Japan: 'All Options' Open With N. Korea NewsMax.com Wires SEOUL, South Korea -- Japan said Sunday that "all options" would be considered against North Korea, including oil and food sanctions, if the communist country tests a long-range missile that could reach the United States. On Monday, moves to use diplomacy to halt North Korea's apparent launch plans intensified, with South Korea's foreign minister heading to China and key U.S. lawmakers calling for direct talks with the North. Meanwhile, the U.S. plans to deploy advanced Patriot interceptor missiles in southern Japan by the end of the year, Japan's largest newspaper reported. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon was traveling Monday to Beijing for a two-day trip to seek China's help in the missile crisis. China, a key provider of aid to the impoverished North, is believed to be the only country that has considerable leverage over Pyongyang. The United States, Japan and other countries have been trying to head off a potential missile launch. Intelligence reports say fuel tanks have been seen around a missile at a launch site on North Korea's northeastern coast, but officials say it is difficult to determine from satellite photos if the rocket is actually being fueled. In Washington, leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the Bush administration should talk directly with North Korea - something Pyongyang has been seeking for years. "It would be advisable to bring about a much greater intensification of diplomacy, and this may involve direct talks between the United States and North Korea," said committee chairman Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. Story Continues Below
The Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the U.S. government notified Japan earlier this month that it will deploy Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles - designed to intercept ballistic missiles, cruise missiles or aircraft - on its own bases in Japan for the first time. The U.S. military would deploy three or four batteries of the surface-to-air missiles on the southern island of Okinawa, where it also plans to send an additional 500-600 troops, Yomiuri said, quoting an unidentified government officials. In Pyongyang, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said "hundreds of thousands" of North Koreans marked the anniversary of the 1950 start of the Korean War by "denouncing the U.S. imperialists, the sworn enemy of the Korean people." The protesters "reiterated the firm stand of the army and people of (the North) that should the U.S. imperialists ignite another war of aggression on this land, they will mobilize all the political and ideological might ... and mercilessly wipe out the enemies and victoriously conclude their standoff with the U.S.," KCNA reported. The Korean War ended in a 1953 cease-fire. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun told war veterans that the North's apparent moves to launch a missile show that security on the peninsula is "still volatile," but he stressed that Seoul will continue reconciliation efforts. Those efforts started after a historic 2000 summit between the two nations. The potential test is believed to be of a Taepodong-2 missile, which the U.S. government estimates has a range of between 5,000 and 7,500 miles. "All options are on the table," Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Sunday on public broadcaster NHK, referring to what Japan would do if there was a launch. "I believe public opinion would condone sanctions, even on oil or food." The Bush administration has said it is relying on diplomacy to head off the suspected test, but there has been speculation it might use its fledgling missile defense system to shoot down an incoming missile if it is fired. Pyongyang has said it is willing to talk to the United States about its missile concerns. Washington, however, has refused, insisting it will only meet the North amid six-nation talks aimed at ridding Pyongyang of its nuclear weapons program. Lugar said he respected those talks, but "nevertheless, with regard to a missile that might have a range of the United States, that becomes a very specific United States-North Korean issue." "We're going to have to come to a point where we find at least an agenda to talk with North Korea about, and I think we are moving toward that," Lugar told CBS' "Face the Nation." The North shocked the world in 1998 by firing a missile that flew over northern Japan and into the Pacific Ocean. It has been under a self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile tests since 1999, but has since test-fired many short-range missiles.
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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