U.S., S. Korea discuss proposed missile defense

In this story: Protests greet U.S. delegation U.S. officials head to Moscow RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage met Wednesday with South Korean officials to brief them about a proposed U.S. national missile defense program.

The meeting was part of a coordinated White House effort begun this week to consult with U.S. allies who may be concerned about global reaction to the proposed system.

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This month, President George W. Bush's announced his intention to implement a high-tech system to protect against missile attacks from so-called "rogue nations."

Armitage met Wednesday with South Korean officials in Seoul to brief them about the missile plans. Top Bush administration aides are fanning out around the globe to consult on U.S. plans to build the system.

Armitage also delivered a letter from President Bush to South Korean President Kim Dae-jung outlining Washington's support for Seoul's engagement policy toward North Korea.

"At the moment, we are not talking with North Korea on anything, but I suspect that we will in the near future," Armitage said after separately meeting Kim and Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo.

Protests greet U.S. delegation

About 30 South Korean opponents of U.S. missile defense protested at Incheon International Airport, but police kept the demonstrators away from Armitage and his entourage, The Associated Press said.

"The aim of their visit is to twist South Korea's arm to get it to be involved in the U.S. missile defense system," the Korean Federation for the Environmental Movement, a civic group that organized the protest, said in a statement obtained by the AP.

Another group of 100 anti-U.S. protesters, mostly students, marched in downtown Seoul. They carried a banner that read: "U.S. Diabolic Nightmare" and handed out leaflets saying: "Armitage, envoy of death."

The United States has proposed a mix of land- and sea-based rockets and airborne laser weapons to shoot down missiles from such countries as Iraq and North Korea. The Americans say their initiative is part of a new strategy of deterrence the United States and the entire 19-nation NATO alliance.

On Tuesday in Belgium, according to The Associated Press, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman and Stephen Hadley, deputy White House assistant for national security affairs, told NATO ambassadors that the allies must stand together against the threat from nations able to threaten global security with long-range missiles of mass destruction.

U.S. officials acknowledged the project would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union, now Russia. But Grossman said the treaty is outdated now that the Soviet Union no longer exists and Russia is not an enemy, the AP reported.

Speaking to reporters, Grossman called the reaction from the allies positive. He cited none of the concerns some have expressed about scrapping the ABM treaty and deploying the proposed new system over Russian objections. NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson welcomed U.S. efforts to consult the allies. However, his statement stopped short of a declaration of support for the missile defense plan, according to the AP.

U.S. officials head to Moscow

Meanwhile, Paul Wolfowitz, the undersecretary of defense, is heading up a delegation of U.S. officials due to arrive in Moscow late Thursday night for consultations with their Russian counterparts on the missile defense initiative.

They expect to meet Friday with advisers to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been cool to the Bush plan.

The delegation is part of a team that has been visiting several European capitals. From Moscow, they are scheduled to go to Western Europe.

The U.S. officials have so far not made any requests to meet with Putin.

Earlier this month Bush outlined his general plans for a national missile defense system, saying a "new framework" is needed for national defense and saying the 1972 ABM Treaty should be scrapped. The president also called for a reduction in the nation's nuclear stockpile, although he did not cite precise numbers.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has identified "near-term options" that could allow the United States to deploy an "initial capability" against limited attacks, possibly as early as 2004. A complete missile defense shield, however, is believed to be at least a decade away the AP reported.

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Federation of American Scientists
  • Ballistic Missile Defense
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Department of State
  • Arms Control information

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