Rice Tries To Prevent Asian Arms Race

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the swift and effective implementation of sanctions against North Korea on Wednesday, arguing that the United States had no desire to escalate the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear test.

Rice also reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the defense of Japan, its top ally in the region and home to 50,000 U.S. troops. North Korea's nuclear test last week has raised concerns of an arms race in the region.

"The United States has no desire to escalate this crisis. We would like to see it de-escalate," Rice told reporters in a joint news conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso. "This is not a blockade or a quarantine," she added, referring to the U.N. sanctions.

Aso, meanwhile, reiterated that Japan had no plans to develop a nuclear weapons. Many fear that such a move by Japan could encourage South Korea to follow suit and anger China, rising tensions in the region.

"The government is absolutely not considering a need to be armed by nuclear weapons," Aso said. "We do not need to acquire nuclear arms with an assurance by U.S. Secretary of State Rice that the bilateral alliance would work without fault."

Rice arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday for talks with Japanese officials amid fears North Korea could be readying for a second nuclear test.

After Aso, Rice was to meet with Defense chief Fumio Kyuma on Wednesday and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday before heading with Aso to Seoul.

Of immediate concern was the prospect of North Korea following its Oct. 9 test with a second nuclear detonation, a move that would heighten tensions further.

U.S. satellites have detected new construction and vehicle activity at the testing grounds that could be preparations for another test, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. But there is not much U.S. officials like negotiator Chris Hill can do except issue warnings.

"I think we would all regard a second test as a very belligerent answer on North Korea's part to the international community," said Hill.

CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports that North Korea has said privately it intends to conduct three more underground nuclear tests.

One of the reasons the North may be eager to conduct a second test, U.S. officials tell Plante, is because the first one appears to have been a failure, yielding a much smaller explosion than they had probably hoped for.

South Korea urged the North on Wednesday not to take any action that would conflict with a U.N. resolution sanctioning Pyongyang for the test.

CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey reports that Rice's second stop, in South Korea, could prove more challenging for the senior diplomat than her stay in Tokyo.

Rice will ask South Korea to fulfill its obligations on the nuclear proliferation security initiative, which includes stopping and inspecting ships bound for North Korea. But, Pizzey pointed out, the South is wary of taking any action that could lead to cross-border skirmishes with its old foe.

"Of all the countries in the standoff, the stakes are highest for the South Koreans, because North Korea has South Korea hostage," Peter Beck, Director of the North East Asia Project's International Crisis Group, told Pizzey.

Rice arrived in Tokyo as Japan was debating how far it can go to join in helping the U.S. military to board and search North Korean ships as allowed under U.N. Security Council sanctions passed over the weekend.

Japan's pacifist constitution bans the armed forces from offensive actions, and it was unclear whether such searches on the high seas would violate the charter.

The national Yomiuri newspaper reported Wednesday that Japan was expected to offer naval backup for those searches when Rice arrived in Tokyo.

Japan plans to dispatch destroyers, P-3C patrol aircraft and surveillance planes to waters near Japan to search for or pursue suspicious vessels and assist the inspections, the paper said.

Rice told reporters accompanying her to Japan that Washington was concerned the North Korean test could spark an arms race in the region, and that it was important to tell U.S. allies Japan and South Korea that Washington's defense umbrella was dependable.

Abe has pledged that Japan — the only country ever attacked with atomic weapons — would stick to its ban on possessing or producing nuclear weapons, but some officials have said that Tokyo should discuss its defense options.

U.S. intelligence has concluded that the North Korean device blown up in last week's underground test was nuclear, and likely used plutonium, as opposed to uranium.

Martin said U.S. intelligence assessments indicate North Korea has enough plutonium for six to 10 bombs, but also has the ability to make more.