Rice Tries to Head Off Nuclear Arms Race

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talks to reporters at the State Department in Washington, Monday, Oct. 16, 2006, to discuss her upcoming trip to Asia . (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (J. Scott Applewhite - AP)

ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- North Korea's nuclear test could set off an atomic arms race in Asia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday as she sought to reaffirm U.S. obligations to defend two nations most at risk.

In addition to settling nerves among allies, Rice's Asia trip is meant to reinforce pressure on South Korea and especially China to enforce sanctions. Those include what the United States describes as an aggressive inspection and interdiction program that stops short of a full blockade of North Korean trade.

The United States is concerned that Japan and South Korea may want to develop their own nuclear weapons programs to counter the threat from North Korea, and part of Rice's assignment on this week's hastily arranged trip is to lessen that temptation.

"Obviously an event of this kind does carry with it the potential for instability in the relationships that now exist in the region," Rice said en route to Japan, her first stop on a tour devoted almost entirely to answering North Korea's nuclear threat.

"That's why it's extremely important to go out and to affirm, and affirm strongly, U.S. defense commitments to Japan and to South Korea," Rice said.

Her diplomatic language refers to the calculus of nuclear deterrents and to the long-standing U.S. pledge to use its own nuclear arsenal to defend its friends.

Rice would not comment in detail about worries by the U.S. and other governments that the North may be preparing for a second test explosion.

"We're concerned about further action by the North Koreans," Rice said, "but further action by the North Koreans will only deepen its isolation, which is pretty deep right now."

Concern over a second test stems partly from new satellite imagery showing increased activity around at least two other North Korean sites, a senior defense official said Tuesday.

The activity, started a number of days ago, included ground preparation at one site and construction of some buildings and other structures, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it involved intelligence gathering. He said that although the purpose of the structures is unclear, officials are concerned because North Korea has left open the possibility of another test.

The White House said Tuesday that it wouldn't be surprising if North Korea were to try another nuclear test "to be provocative."

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that while it was unclear what role the U.S. military might take in enforcing new U.N. sanctions, he did not expect the United States or any other nation to do so unilaterally.

"It takes cooperation among a great many countries to participate, and things move by land, sea and air, and it's complicated, and only time will tell," he told reporters.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ruled out developing nuclear weapons, but a ruling party policy director raised that possibility soon after the North's Oct. 9 test.

The measures passed by the U.N. Security Council over the weekend were watered down to suit China and Russia, but still impose harsh penalties. The measures ban trade with the North in major weapons and materials that could be used in its ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs. They call for all countries to inspect cargo to and from North Korea to enforce the prohibition, although it is not clear how that will work in practice.

The U.S. does not think of that as an embargo, said a senior official traveling with Rice, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Rice had not yet met with her Asian counterparts.

Earlier Tuesday, the communist North said U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing the country for its nuclear test amount to a declaration of war. The government said it would not cave under such pressure now that it is a nuclear power.

Japan and the United States have gone beyond the U.N. measures to impose or propose separate financial, trade and other restrictions on North Korea over what the U.S. claims is a pattern of lawbreaking by a rogue nation.

China has long been one of North Korea's few friends, but relations frayed in recent months when the North ignored China's warnings not to conduct missile tests or last week's nuclear test.

Although China's cooperation is key to making sanctions effective, Beijing fears that coming down too hard could topple the fragile government of Kim Jong Il or send hundreds of thousands of hungry refugees flooding across the border.

Even with full Chinese compliance, it isn't clear the sanctions can pressure North Korea to resume multicountry negotiations on dismantling its nuclear programs. The country has lived on the edge of famine for a decade and its trade with the West is severely limited by the bans the U.S. has already imposed.

South Korea has said it would fully comply with the sanctions but has also indicated it does not plan to halt key economic projects with the North, despite concerns they may help fund the North's nuclear and missile programs.

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Associated Press Writers Barry Schweid, Robert Burns and Pauline Jelinek in Washington contributed to this report.