consequences'Brussels, Oct 13 (AFP) Military intervention againstNorth Korea would have "devastating consequences", NATO chiefJens Stoltenberg warned today, after US President Donald Trumpsaid diplomatic efforts had failed.
Tensions over North Korea's weapons programmes havesoared in recent months, with Pyongyang launching a flurry ofmissiles and conducting its sixth and most powerful nucleartest last month in defiance of international sanctions.
Trump's continued threats of military action againstPyongyang to tame its weapons ambitions have fuelled fears ofconflict on the Korean peninsula and next week the US andSouth Korea will begin a major naval drill as a show of forceagainst the North.
Stoltenberg, who will visit South Korea and Japan in thecoming weeks as a show of support, stressed that Washingtonhad the right to defend itself and its allies, but called forgreater diplomatic efforts.
"The use of military force will have devastatingconsequences, I think nobody really wants that, therefore weneed to continue to push for a negotiated solution,"Stoltenberg said in an interview at NATO HQ in Brussels.
"The US has the right to defend itself, to defend itsallies, but at same time I am absolutely certain no one wantsa military solution, so we still see a united effort to try tostep up the pressure against North Korea."Trump met his national security team on Tuesday anddiscussed a "range of options" to respond to Pyongyang'srepeated recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
The meeting came days after Trump, who last monththreatened to "destroy" North Korea, said on Twitter thatyears of talks with Pyongyang had achieved nothing and "onlyone thing will work".
Next week's naval drills in the Sea of Japan and theYellow Sea will feature the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrierand two US destroyers alongside South Korean Navy vessels,part of a flurry of military hardware movement in the regionin recent days.
Earlier this week two supersonic US heavy bombers flewover the Korean peninsula, staging the first night-time jointaviation exercises with Japan and South Korea, the latest in aseries of flyovers.
NATO's covenant of self-defence, under which an attack onone member triggers a response from all, does not apply toSouth Korea or Japan despite their status as "global partners"and Stoltenberg stressed that NATO was "not planning anymilitary presence in that part of the world".
But he cautioned that a strike on Japan or South Koreawould "trigger a really dangerous situation, it would havecatastrophic consequences".
And the growing range and accuracy seen in the North'smissile tests have prompted the 29-nation alliance to reviewits missile defence system, which has been partiallyoperational from a base in Romania since last year.
"Our experts are working on technology, on how to improveour systems," Stoltenberg said.
The North Korea crisis will be high on the agenda at ameeting of EU foreign minister next week, where a freshpackage of sanctions against Kim Jong-Un's regime are set tobe approved.
Three individuals and six entities will be added to theblacklist, a senior EU official said, and the bloc plans tostep up diplomatic pressure on countries who are not enforcingtough international sanctions against the North. (AFP)RB.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.