U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says North Korea is becoming a direct threat to the U.S. with its continued development of long-range missiles and nuclear weapons.

The U.S. Department of Defense disclosed the transcript of Gate's remarks made Saturday at the tenth Asia Security Summit, the Shangri-La Security Dialogue, in Singapore. The summit was held by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

In a question and answer session, Gates said the United States has no interest in regime change in North Korea or in destabilizing the North.

However, the secretary said the U.S. does have an interest in developing North Korea relationships through the six-party dialogue. He said the talks are a way to get the North Koreans to live by the same rules of international engagement that everyone else does.

In an interview with U.S. National Public Radio on Thursday, Gates said Iran and North Korea were developing nuclear weapons and that the North already possesses them.