US will 'never accept' nuclear North Korea

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said today that the US will never accept a North Korea with atomic weapons, saying the communist regime poses threats “even more lethal and destabilising” than before.

Mr Gates arrived in South Korean capital Seoul today for a two-day visit for annual defence ministers’ talks after a stop in Tokyo.

“There should be no mistaking that we do not today – nor will we ever – accept a North Korea with nuclear weapons,” Mr Gates told a group of American and South Korean troops at the US military headquarters in central Seoul.

Mr Gates said “the peril posed by the North Korean regime” has become “even more lethal and destabilising”.

He said the US is firmly committed to providing South Korea with deterrence against those threats “with the full range of military might, from the nuclear umbrella to conventional strike and missile defence capabilities”.

The US keeps about 28,500 troops in South Korea to help defend the Asian ally against the North.

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs have long been a key source of security concern in the region.

The communist nation conducted nuclear tests twice – first in 2006 and the second in May this year – and is believed to have enough weapons-grade plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs.

The North has also sought to advance its long-range missile capabilities.

Efforts to end the North’s nuclear programs have often stalled because Pyongyang has backtracked on disarmament pacts. Some analysts say Pyongyang has no intention of giving up nuclear programs and could seek recognition as a nuclear state, like India.