Anchor: The U.S. is seeking to establish regional antimissile shields in Asia and the Middle East against ballistic missile threats posed by North Korea and Iran. Our Kim Soyon has the story.

Report: U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs, Madelyn Creedon, attended a conference hosted by the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency on Monday local time. She said regional missile defense (MD) systems will help defend North Korea's and Iran's neighbors and the U.S. against the threat of long-range missiles that could be developed in the future.

Creedon said the U.S. is seeking to hold two separate trilateral talks on this issue, one with South Korea and Japan and the other with Japan and Australia.

The defense official said the new antimissile bulwarks sought in Asia and the Middle East will be modeled after one in Europe that employs the “phased adaptive approach.”

Creedon said efforts to build the shields in Asia and the Middle East could sour U.S. ties with Russia and China. She said Washington assures the missile defense is solely for the defense against North Korea and Iran, but Moscow and Beijing are concerned about effects on their national security.

She also pointed out that regional MD systems are good in theory but have realistic concerns. She said that, for instance, Asia does not have an alliance regime such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which can provide diplomatic, political and military cooperation for the missile defense project.

She said therefore to establish such systems in Asia and the Middle East, their unique regional qualities including geography, history and military alliances must be taken into account.

Kim Soyon, KBS World Radio News.