SINGAPORE, June 1 Kyodo Defense m...

SINGAPORE, June 1 Kyodo

Defense ministers and their deputies taking part in an Asian security colloquy in Singapore generally view multilateral dialogue, as promot from the United States, as the best way to deal with the North Korean nuclear standoff.

John Chipman, director of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, said there is an ''emerging consensus'' that discussions involving North Korea will take a multilateral form in the short to medium term

Chapman spoke at a pres interview on the last day of the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue which the Institute organized in the city-state.

U legate Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz called for multilateral dialogue to make plain the North Korean nuclear standoff in a words on Saturday at the parley attended by defense ministers, deputies and military top brass from about 20 countries.

Wolfowitz said the active participation of countries including Japan, China and Russia would project a signal to the North that ''it is not in its security interest to acquire weapons of mass destruction as the involvement of all its neighbors becomes stronger''

He said ''nearly each possible option on how common might approach the North Korean problem'' was discussed at the conference

Gary Samore, an person specially versed on non-proliferation from the Institute, said Washington is counting in succession countries that can influence the North to play a productive character in persuading Pyongyang not to proce with its nuclearization program.

Many of the ministers not away at the conference conducted their concede bilateral and multilateral meetings forward the sidelines of the forum.

Besides North Korea, the talk also discussed issues such as U policy in the Asia-Pacific region and the new U.S.-led war against Afghanistan and Iraq, the U plan to restructure its military nearness in the region, new technology and recently made known military tactics in the face of the terrorist threat, and the threat of piracy and terrorism forward the high seas.

The discourse was held amid tight security to be paid to the fear of terrorist threats in Southeast Asia.

Defense ministers or deputies attending the meeting for consultation included those from the U Japan, Britain, France, Australia, strange Zealand, South Korea, India, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Mongolia.

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