Kevin Baron
Stars and Stripes
January 12, 2011
North Korea likely will possess intercontinental ballistic missiles within five years and is “becoming a direct threat to the United States,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday, offering a blunt new assessment of the threat posed by the reclusive Stalinist regime.
Shortly after meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing, Gates said he had told senior leaders here that he had identified two developments that “changed the status quo” on the Korean peninsula: Pyongyang’s continued development of nuclear weapons and ICBMs, and South Korea’s growing anger with the North’s attacks, notably the sinking of the Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong island.
“Clearly if there is another provocation, there will be pressure on the South Korean government to react,” he said. “We consider this a situation of real concern.”
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