WASHINGTON \u2014 Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned that if America and China let North Korea keep its nuclear weapons, it will spur other countries to seek them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf North Korea still possesses a military nuclear capability in some finite time, the impact on the proliferation of nuclear weapons might be fundamental,\u201d Kissinger said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause if North Korea could keep its capability in the face of opposition by China and the United States, and the disapproval of the rest of the \u2026 world, other countries will also feel this is the way for achieving international prominence and the upper hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Korea and Japan will want nuclear weapons too, \u201cand then we are living in a new world … that will require new thinking,\u201d Kissinger said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That sort of proliferation would represent a new pattern, effecting America\u2019s ability to deter other countries\u2019 use of nuclear weapons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pyongyang poses the \u201cmost immediate challenge to international peace and security,\u201d Kissinger warned in written testimony. The denuclearization of North Korea, \u201cmust be a fundamental objective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He cautioned against a unilateral, preemptive U.S. war with North Korea on the doorstep of Russia and China, but said America will, \u201csoon hit that fork in the road\u201d which will require, \u201csome prayerful thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe temptation to deal with it with a preemptive attack is strong, and the argument is rational,\u201c Kissinger said. \u201cI would be very concerned by a unilateral American war at the borders of China and Russia in which we are unsupported by a significant part of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The goal, he said, should be to enlist China in using sanctions to pressure North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea of halting North Korean missile tests in exchange for abandoning allied military exercises would encourage further demands to dismantle alliances in the region, Kissinger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat would equate legitimate security operations with activities which have been condemned by the U.N. Security Council for decades,\u201d Kissinger said, adding: .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kissinger testified with fellow luminaries, Reagan administration Secretary of State George Schultz and Richard Armitage, a former deputy secretary of state under President George W. Bush.
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