ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. — On the day that North Korea threatened to attack South Korea and said it was abandoning the armistice that ended hostilities in 1953, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates left for Singapore on a scheduled six-day tour.
Just days ago, the meeting known as the Shangri-La Dialogue — after the 5-star hotel where it is located — had the air of a typical overseas conference of policymakers and military leadership, with the secretary also dropping in on U.S. troops in the Philippines and Alaska, where Gates has not visited and where key U.S. missile defense installations are located.
But on Monday, North Korea set off an underground nuclear explosion and tested several above-ground medium-range missiles.
On Tuesday, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters traveling with Gates that a previously scheduled meeting between Gates and the defense ministers of Japan and South Korea at the Singapore conference now would undoubtedly focus on North Korea.
The isolated North Korean regime already was known to have missiles that could reach Japan and South Korea. Analysts on Monday said the ultimate fear is that North Korea eventually will be able to affix a warhead to its missiles.
In the briefing with reporters, a senior defense official said the U.S. hoped to “reaffirm” its commitment to Pacific security and reiterate the need for collective pressure on North Korea.
“Clearly, this is the most urgent issue in the region,” the official said. “Will it take on a heightened sense of urgency? Absolutely.”
Gates will arrive in Singapore on Friday, where over the weekend he will give a speech, attend private meetings with ministers from Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore, and hold a series of 15-minute “pull asides” with representatives from New Zealand, Mongolia and China. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will deliver the keynote on pan-Pacific regional security.
A key meeting this year will be the first-ever meeting of defense ministers from the U.S., Japan and South Korea.
Gates expects to “reaffirm” the Pentagon’s plans to realign its forces in Japan and South Korea “as planned,” said Morrell.
In Manila, on Sunday and Monday, the secretary will lay a wreath at the American Military Cemetery, meet with the defense minister Gilberto Teodoro Jr., and stop in on troops with a joint special operations task force supporting the Philippines’ fight against the armed insurgency.
For the final leg, Gates will make his first visit to troops stationed in Alaska. The secretary’s team will fly to Elmendorf Air Force Base, near Anchorage, Alaska, where he will hold a town hall with roughly 300 airmen and soldiers.
Elmendorf houses the Alaskan Command as well as the Alaskan NORAD Region, the 11th Air Force, and the 3rd Wing.
He will then visit the ground-based missile defense installation at Allen Army Airfield, near Fort Greely.
The Obama administration’s defense budget proposal would freeze the number of missiles at Fort Greely while testing would continue there through 2012.
Gates told Congress last week that he wants to update missile defense systems but also sought to cut spending on the systems by $1.4 billion.
In April, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin wrote to Gates, pleading:
“I am deeply concerned with North Korea’s development and testing program. It has the clear potential of impacting Alaska, Hawaii, and possibly the West Coast, with a nuclear-armed warhead. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is that we continue to develop and perfect our global missile defense shield.”
