US will maintain South China Sea presence: Mullen

“The US is not going away. Our enduring presence in this region has been important to our allies for decades and will continue to be so,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mullen urged Beijing to use its relationship with North Korea to ensure regional stability, while warning Pyongyang against further provocations.

“North Korea and the leadership of North Korea is only predictable in one sense and that is — if you base it historically — they will continue to provocate,” Mullen told reporters.

Six-party nuclear disarmament talks, grouping the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the US have been stalled since the North abandoned them in April 2009. It staged its second nuclear test a month later.

“The Chinese leadership, they have a strong relationship with the leadership in Pyongyang and they exercise that routinely ... continuing to do that as they have done in the past is really important,” Mullen said.

Mullen’s trip coincided with a joint naval exercise with the US, Japanese and Australian navies in the South China Sea that began on Saturday.
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