ACCESSION NUMBER:327607
FILE ID:POL405
DATE:02/17/94
TITLE:DEFENSE DEPARTMENT REPORT, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17 (02/17/94)
TEXT:*94021705.POL
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT REPORT, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17
NEWS BRIEFING -- Spokesman Kathleen deLaski answered questions on the
following topics:



U.S. HAS NOT PUT PATRIOT DECISION ON HOLD

DeLaski said the United States has not put on hold its decision to send
Patriot anti-missile missiles to South Korea in the wake of North Korea's
decision to permit international inspections of its nuclear facilities.

U.S. officials are still consulting with the South Koreans about the
"timing" of deploying the defensive Patriot systems, she said.  "We are
looking favorably on it," the spokesman added.

Asked about the status of the U.S.-South Korean "Team Spirit" exercise,
deLaski said that planning for it continues.  Nor has it been scaled back
as a result of any activities on the Korean peninsula in the past six
months, she added.

Regarding two North Korean nuclear sites which appear to be still
unavailable to international inspectors, she said "We still very much want
North Korea to agree to inspections of those undeclared sites....All of the
objectives of the U.S., and...IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)
policy, for that matter, remain unchanged."

NNNN

.