5 June 2010 / REUTERS, SINGAPORE/SEOUL
The United States does not see North Korea preparing any new provocations for an attack on the South but is prepared for a confrontation, the top US military commander in the region said on Friday.
A North Korean envoy said in Geneva on Thursday that war could erupt at any time on the Korean Peninsula and that the North’s troops were on “full alert and readiness to promptly react to any retaliation.” Admiral Robert Willard, head of the US Pacific Command, said there were no signs North Korea was preparing a nuclear test or moving troops towards the South, a major US ally. “Right now we’re not seeing indications that North Korea is intending the next provocation,” Willard told reporters in Singapore on the sidelines of a major security conference. “The rhetoric from North Korea is not unusual. But I think everyone in the region is watching North Korea very closely given their unpredictability.” Willard said the United States was prepared for a confrontation with the North despite strains on US forces from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. “Pacific Command is very ready. We’re prepared for any contingency in this region,” he said, adding the United States was working with South Korea’s military “in terms of their own readiness, training and exercise needs.” South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was to address the Singapore conference later on Friday and would urge the world to respond firmly to the North’s aggression.
