A senior U.S. military officer says... much more can be done to keep an unpredictable North Korea in check.
This follows military talks between the U.S. and China,... where Beijing officials are usually reluctant to talk about North Korea issues.
Kim Hyun-bin reports.
The U.S. Army Pacific commander General Vincent Brooks says North Korea came up in his discussions with Chinese military leaders during his recent visit to China.
In an interview with the Brookings Institution's "Order from Chaos" blog on Tuesday, Brooks said he visited Beijing and Hainan last month and had meetings with China's top generals,... but he did not elaborate on what the two sides said about North Korea.
However, he did emphasize the need for dialogue between the U.S., China, South Korea and Japan to formulate a coordinated policy to counter the North Korean nuclear and missile threat.
Brooks said the regime's continual provocations and lack of transparency means there's always the potential for a military miscalculation.
He added that,... given North Korea's unpredictable nature,... the Pacific Command remains on a so-called "fight tonight" posture and stressed that U.S. troops in South Korea are always on alert.
In regards to the U.S. general's meetings in China,... diplomatic sources in Washington say it's unlikely much progress was made on North Korean issues.
They note that, in previous encounters, China has been reluctant to talk to the U.S. about North Korea, especially in regards to the North's leadership and internal changes inside the isolated regime.
Kim Hyun-bin, Arirang News.
