WASHINGTON - Richard Perle, the chairman of the Pentagon Defense Policy Board (DPB) advisory panel said in a December 17 (local time) interview with the Chosun Ilbo, that the option of using military tactics should not be eliminated in dealing with North Korea. Perle said, "The Bush administration will consider all the alternatives, because the dangers involved are so substantial."

He also said those who thought "resolution through diplomatic means" meant something other than resolution were mistaken, and that "the danger to be brought upon us by North Korea's nuclear development is so great that it will result in a quarantine of unprecedented comprehensiveness."

On the subject of the interception of North Korean Scud missiles headed toward Yemen, he said, "The recurrence of such an incident might have the same meaning to lawyers but will actually have different and important aspects."

The DPB chairman said that dealing with North Korea had different elements, in that it could inflict considerable harm on South Korea, and that there was no country in the world that supported the rogue nation. Perle said he could not understand why the Korean government did not fully adopt counter-battery artillery techniques, which counter-attack by tracing the origin of fire.

DPB chairman Perle is considered one of the "hawks" in US President George W. Bush’s foreign policy advisory council. The board includes Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State, Dan Quayle, former vice US president, James Schlesinger, former Secretary of Defense, and Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(Ju Yong-jung, midway@chosun.com )