U.S. patience limited on North Korea issue

June 02, 2007

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, together with Japan and South Korea, have warned that patience is not unlimited when it comes to waiting for North Korea to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor. The comments were made at the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Shangri-La forum where Gates's comments marked a dramatic shift in tone for the Pentagon, which under Gates' predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, used the event to confront China and criticise Beijing for a lack of transparency on its military build-up.