SINGAPORE : Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are expected to dominate an Asia-Pacific security forum in Singapore this weekend to be addressed by South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, South Korean Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young and other top officials will attend the Shangri-La Dialogue organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
This year's edition of the annual conference comes amid renewed sabre-rattling on the Korean Peninsula following a torpedo attack in March that sank the South Korean warship Cheonan, killing 46 sailors.
A multinational investigation team concluded last month that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the Cheonan, prompting Seoul to announce a series of reprisals against its communist neighbour.
North Korea has furiously denied involvement and responded to the reprisals with threats of war.
Security analysts see the Korean Peninsula as a potential flashpoint for conflict in Asia. The neighbours are still technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The South Korean leader will address the forum late on Friday.
Lee is expected to speak about "the threat that North Korea poses to South Korea's security accentuated by the attack on the Cheonan," said Tim Huxley, the Singapore-based IISS executive director for Asia.
Lee is also expected to comment on the long-standing problems relating to Pyongyang's efforts to develop nuclear weapons, he said.
Huxley said he hoped Lee would also speak about South Korea's "emerging place as a significant power in the Asian region" and its role in the regional security landscape.
"South Korea seems sometimes pre-occupied with domestic issues but in the longer term, it is an important economic power with longer-range strategic interests," Huxley told AFP.
The forum, which ends Sunday, will provide an opportunity for private meetings of the US, Japanese and South Korean defence chiefs to further coordinate their positions on North Korea, Huxley added.
He said the chances of a shooting war on the Korean Peninsula would depend on how aggressive the North is, and how well the US-South Korea defence alliance can deter any planned attack by the communist regime in Pyongyang.
The United States will conduct a major anti-submarine naval exercise with South Korea next week in the Yellow Sea in a show of strength after the Cheonan's sinking.
A US aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, will join the drill, leading a battle fleet comprising some 10 ships including an Aegis destroyer and nuclear-powered submarines, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.
The South will deploy a 4,500-ton destroyer, a submarine and F-15K fighter jets.
The military exercise "is part of the deterrence posture" of the United States and South Korea, Huxley said.
"Hopefully it will make the North see that a policy of aggression will not be worthwhile," he said. - AFP/jy
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, South Korean Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young and other top officials will attend the Shangri-La Dialogue organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
This year's edition of the annual conference comes amid renewed sabre-rattling on the Korean Peninsula following a torpedo attack in March that sank the South Korean warship Cheonan, killing 46 sailors.
A multinational investigation team concluded last month that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the Cheonan, prompting Seoul to announce a series of reprisals against its communist neighbour.
North Korea has furiously denied involvement and responded to the reprisals with threats of war.
Security analysts see the Korean Peninsula as a potential flashpoint for conflict in Asia. The neighbours are still technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The South Korean leader will address the forum late on Friday.
Lee is expected to speak about "the threat that North Korea poses to South Korea's security accentuated by the attack on the Cheonan," said Tim Huxley, the Singapore-based IISS executive director for Asia.
Lee is also expected to comment on the long-standing problems relating to Pyongyang's efforts to develop nuclear weapons, he said.
Huxley said he hoped Lee would also speak about South Korea's "emerging place as a significant power in the Asian region" and its role in the regional security landscape.
"South Korea seems sometimes pre-occupied with domestic issues but in the longer term, it is an important economic power with longer-range strategic interests," Huxley told AFP.
The forum, which ends Sunday, will provide an opportunity for private meetings of the US, Japanese and South Korean defence chiefs to further coordinate their positions on North Korea, Huxley added.
He said the chances of a shooting war on the Korean Peninsula would depend on how aggressive the North is, and how well the US-South Korea defence alliance can deter any planned attack by the communist regime in Pyongyang.
The United States will conduct a major anti-submarine naval exercise with South Korea next week in the Yellow Sea in a show of strength after the Cheonan's sinking.
A US aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, will join the drill, leading a battle fleet comprising some 10 ships including an Aegis destroyer and nuclear-powered submarines, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.
The South will deploy a 4,500-ton destroyer, a submarine and F-15K fighter jets.
The military exercise "is part of the deterrence posture" of the United States and South Korea, Huxley said.
"Hopefully it will make the North see that a policy of aggression will not be worthwhile," he said. - AFP/jy
