Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=5/2/2005

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=US / NORTH KOREA (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-324371

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=STATE DEPARTMENT

HEADLINE: Secretary Rice Says US Can Deter North Korea's Nuclear Ambitions

INTRO: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a tough statement aimed at North Korea, says the United States has significant deterrent capability to thwart Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. VOA Correspondent Meredith Buel has details from the State Department.

TEXT: Secretary Rice discussed North Korea's nuclear program the day after Pyongyang apparently launched a short-range missile, which landed in the Sea of Japan.

In reassuring South Korea, Japan and other U.S. allies in the Pacific, Ms. Rice pointed out the United States has a robust military capability in the region.

/// RICE ACT ///

"We have, after all, a very strong alliance with South Korea and a very strong alliance with Japan. Of course, the United States maintains significant, and I want to underline significant, deterrent capability of all kinds in the Asia-Pacific region. So I don't think there should be any doubt about our ability to deter whatever the North Koreans are up to. But that doesn't mean that it is not a serious problem and that the North Koreans should not come back to the six-party talks because all of their neighbors consider this to be a problem. This is not just between the United States and North Korea."

/// END ACT ///

Pyongyang announced earlier this year it was dropping out of six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program

Last week the head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, Navy Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby, told a Senate committee he believes North Korea has the capability to arm a missile with a nuclear device, with a range that could reach the United States.

U.S. intelligence officials believe North Korea has had a nuclear weapons capability since the 1990s and may have added to its arsenal after it expelled nuclear inspectors and withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003. (Signed)

NEB/MB/KL