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Quoting a high-ranking U.S. government official, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun reported Tuesday that the U.S. Bush administration had set as its "red line" attempts by North Korea to transfer nuclear materials to a third party, and promised to deal with such attempts immediately and severely.
This is the first time a Bush administration official has mentioned a "red line" in connection with North Korea.
The official did not concretely explain how the U.S. would respond should North Korea cross the "red line," but the paper explained this was a strong warning that military action could not be excluded. Until now, the U.S. had refused to set a definite "red line," believing the establishment of such a limit could induce North Korea to engage in provocations right up to the line.
The U.S. official stressed North Korea shouldn't ever believe it could transfer nuclear materials to a third party.
Another U.S. official, responding to criticism the U.S. could not apply enough military pressure on North Korea because of commitments in Iraq, said Iraq wouldn't be a major handicap because while the U.S. Army was deployed in Iraq, it was the U.S. Navy and Air Force that would primarily deal with North Korea.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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