in the case of the dprk, the dprk's illicit ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program, it is not our security interest to be sure, not in the security interest in the allies of the indo pacific and is not in the interest of the p.r.c.. it is incumbent upon all responsible actors to enforce the sanctions that are on the books. to contain this program, confinement, to hold the dprk accountable for its violations of multiple un security council resolutions over the course of many years. reporter: today they announced that the initial sanctions against -- everything about that -- do you have anything about that? ned: we do not preview sanctions, in response to additional provocations from the dprk in recent days, i would not be surprised if we have more to say. reporter: as you know, yesterday president biden announced the designation of columbia as a nato non-nato ally. what is this designation and doesn't make any difference between the relationship between the two countries? ned: this designation is notable for a number of reasons. and makes columbia only the third major non-nato

dprk. i do not want to speak to possible motivation about any dprk ballistic missile launches. this is something the dprk has done fairly consistently over the years. in recent months, we have seen a spate these launches. whether any particular launch had a particular motivation in mind, that is not something i would speak to. these are ballistic missile launches and we have been very clear that we condemn the ballistic missile launch. this launch like the other lodges earlier this year is a clear violation of a multiple u.n. security council resolutions. it demonstrates the threat that is posed by the dprk with its weapons of mass destruction and its missile program. these are threats that strike at peace and security within the indo-pacific and beyond. that is why we have stood resolutely with the international community called , on the dprk to abide by the security council resolutions and to refrain from further provocation and to engage in substantive and sustained dialogue. our commitm

we continue to reach out to the dprk. we are committed to pursuing a diplomatic approach to this challenge. we have made clear that we have no hostile intent towards the dprk and we are prepared to meet with some. we have extended this offer. it is up to the dprk to determine whether they wish to engage in the series of sustained diplomacy that we think can address security challenges and help achieve both -- our objective of a complete denuclearization of korea. >> can you update us on what is happening [indiscernible] the former vice president [indiscernible] >> i do not have a comment on of that. i do not have a comment on the remarks of a private citizen. what it comes to iran and negotiations in vienna, there have been significant progress. there is close to a deal. it is a down to a small number of outstanding issues. the reason these particular issues are outstanding is because they are among the most difficult ones. i am reminded of a former president that had a sign on his desk and said hard things are hard. now

i don't separate a, dprk, china, russia, from there would be an impact on any of the hostilities on the peninsula that we are paying attention to. >> the dod has been trying to rebalance reconnaissance assets to indo-pacom. would you elaborate? >> the theme that we have watched over the last 20 years, there is never enough isr. the globe is a big place. we have multiple areas that we keep tracks on. what i would say is as we shift towards a focus toward the indo-pacific, some of those resource versus come to the indo-pacific but we are still not meeting the total requirement. we are not meeting the total requirement anywhere. what i will tell you is the secretary has not pulled any assets from the indo-pacific based on what is needed in the ukraine. so, again, the department's focus in the right theater, but, boy, it is a complex world. >> uh-huh. and general, in your area is there any gaps still in isr that you would like to talk about? >> most of it is in placement and access, given the comprehensive military agreement between the north and south and just our ability to collect over d

when it comes to dprk, i think he's solely focused internally on protecting his regime and that's what the nuclear testing and the missiles is really about protecting his position in the world. >> thank you. >> and dr. ratner and admiral aquilino, when it comes to the big question how we present a legitimate deterrent to china given what they've done in the last decade. i know it's not just one thing. could you sum up how we need to change our military capability in terms of where we should spend our money and what programs we should put the highest priority on. what are the capability or capabilities that we most need to get better at and develop to counter what china has done? >> thanks, mr. chairman. i'll go first if it's okay with dr. ratner. first of all, i think we must look through the prc issue as not just today, right? so it's a short-term problem, it's a medium-term problem and it's a long-term problem. so i can tell you what we're doing today as applies to adjusting our posture both in places we operate from, the amount and position of forces, where we put it is important. t

for the small number that voted against - belarus, the dprk, eritrea, syria, as well as, of course, russia - as groucho marx once sort of said, this is not very much a club that i would want to be a member of. >> olga koshelenko. >> oh, wait, sorry, on the prospects for diplomacy. >> oh, i'm sorry, yes. look, as i said a moment ago, with regard to ukraine itself, we of course remain open to pursuing any reasonable path, but it's very hard to see any path when the bombs are dropping, the planes are flying, the tanks are rolling. so deescalation, pulling back forces - that would open a path to diplomacy, and we i think demonstrated very clearly in the months leading up to russia's aggression that we were prepared to engage russia diplomatically on any legitimate security concerns on a reciprocal basis that remains. unfortunately, tragically, horrifically, i think we've seen -- and you don't have to take my word for it -- just listen to president putin's own words, that virtually everything the russian government professed to be concerned about was not really what was at issue - for example,

when it comes to dprk, i think he is focused solely on internally on protecting his regime. and that's what these, this nuclear testing and the missiles is really about protecting his position in the world. >> thank you. and doctor rutner and admiral aquilino, when it comes to the big question of how we present a legitimate deterrent to china in the region given what they've done in the last decade, and i know it's no one thing, but if you could sort of sort of some of how we need to change our military capability. in terms of where we should spend our money, or programs we should put the highest priority on, what are the capability or capabilities that we most need to get better at it developed to counter what china has done? >> thanks, mister chairman, i'll go first of his okay with doctor ratner. first of all, i think we must look through the prc issue as not just today, right, so it's a short term problem, it's a medium term problem and it's a long term problem. so i can tell you what we're doing today, as it applies to the adjusting our posture, both in places we operat

international community tois speak with one voice about thee concerns that we know they have over the dprk's continued ballistic missile program. i'm not going to get into any more detail in terms of the assessments we've made. it'ss all there out in the public. i won't go beyond my public statements. but clearly, these continued tests are a provocation, they are a violation of u.n. security council resolutions, and they give us as well as so many other nations added concern about the capabilities that the north is trying to develop. and so, again, we feel it was important to make that case and to lay it out there. and as for whether it's a lesson learned, is would be careful drawing a direct bright line between these relations about this --- revelations about this program and revelations that we made early on even before the invasion of ukraine. when we believe that information should be in the public, we're going to put it in the public, we're going to, we're going to state it as best we canment obviously, there's some stuff we know that we're not going to talk about, but we believe that c

over the dprk's continued ballistic missile program. i'm not going to get into any more detailed terms of the assessments we have made. it is all there out in the public. i want to go beyond my public statements, but clearly these continued tests are a provocation. they are a violation of un security council resolutions. and they give us, as well as so many other nations, added concern about the kinds of capabilities that the north is trying to develop. and so, again, we feel it was important to make that case and to lay it out there. and as for whether it is a lesson learned, i would be careful drawing indirect bright line between these revelations about this program and revelations we made even before the invasion of ukraine. when we believe that information should be in the public, we are going to put it in the public. we are going to state it as best we can. obviously there is some stuff we know we are not going to talk about, but we believe calling them out publicly for these tests was the right thing to do. >> quickly on the decon

we've made clear our concern over the significant increase in dprk missile testing activity. which we continue to believe undermines peace and security and is destabilizing the region as well as the international community. so, in light of that, as we noted, earlier this week, u.s. indo pacific command, ordered intensified intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collection activities in the loc. as well as enhanced readiness among our ballistic missile defense forces in the region. so again, i think, in our case here actions are speaking louder than words. we have made clear what our concerns are, and we're acting on those concerns. mike. >> the defense department was tasked to pretty much on the fly with finding billets for thousands of refugees after the fall of afghanistan. is the pentagon trying to sort of get ahead of this? to prepare, if it had to do it again, a little bit of regard to any people from ukraine? mr. kirby: well, you know, we're just getting closer to wrapping up operation allies' welcome. and we were very proud to be a part of that. this dhs led mis

for the small number that voted against, belarus, the dprk, syria, as well as of course russia, as grocho marx said, this is not a club i would want to be a part of. with regard to ukraine itself, we of course are open to pursuing any reasonable path. but it is hard to see any path when the bombs are dropping, the planes are flying, tanks are rolling. so deescalation, pulling back forces, that would open a path to diplomacy. and we i think demonstrated very clearly in the months leading up to russia's aggression that we were prepared to engage diplomatically on any security concerns on a reciprocal basis. and that remains. but horrifically i think that we've seen, and you will have to take my word -- you don't have to take my word for it, just listen to putin's own words, virtually everything that the russian government professed to be concerned about was not really an issue. for example ukraine joining nato. president putin has said and demonstrated by the actions that russia has taken, that what this is about for him is ukraine being absorbed in one fashion or another into russia. he se

the human rights crises in burma, cuba, the dprk, iran, south sudan, syria, venezuela and yemen, among others, also demand this council's ongoing attention. in each of these places, we must not only denounce abuses, but work to stop them and hold perpetrators accountable. yet -- >> you've been listening to antony wlinken blinken address human rights council in the midst of what is an ongoing siege of several european cities at once. cities, population centers with millions of people in them, some of them, including the capital kyiv, saying there, erica, how this is a human tragedy unfolding here, expressing really outrage and alarm at the idea that russia is a member, could be a member of such a human rights council and really asking now the world to act. >> and pointing out and this made me think of a point you made earlier, he says these are the human rights the council was created to stop, it cannot come together now, when will we come together? as you pointed out, unfortunately, over the years, we have heard a number of pleas, a number of speeches to respond to human rights violati

i do not think it is going the way of the dprk but it is possible. you do not have western media in action john and tibet -- in tibet. as long as they keep giving visas, there will be some limited presence. i have known bella long time and when we first knew each other, it was -- i live in korea, in the 80's when it was under military rule. the idea that the new york times would have editorial people in seoul because they cannot be in hong kong is mind-boggling. in the space of 30 years, a place like south korea becomes an open society and a place like home which seems so open -- hong kong which seems so open is a place where they throw storybook illustrators into jail. >> a question saying that she isn't a tiny expert but wasn't hong kong independence in the treaty limited to a certain period? were citizens naive to think it would be longer than that? >> it was a high degree of autonomy and it has some of the toppings -- trappings of its own currencies. it was for 50 years, we are coming up to the halfway mark on july 1. we did not even make it half

as i mention the commission of inquiry on syria, the special repertoire is for iran, north korea, dprk, and so a flawed institution but one we want to make better by being at the table. we are more effective when where they are pushing back on these issues. >> i ran out of time thank you. >> thank you. let's go to vice chair jacobs. >> thank you so much for testifying before the committee, i want to follow up with a question to the chairman, on the u.s. standing at the un. and i want to talk about u.s. peacekeepers at the un and the impact it has on u.s. influence and standing. could you describe this on past and present, not only that it's had on u.s. standing bodies, but the peacekeeping operations and how has russia or cuba use this to their advantage. >> thank you representative jacobs, thank you also for your long-standing interest and your leadership and advocacy on this issue. i was watching that even before i was confirmed. so congressional support for our multi lateral commitments is absolutely vital. the issue of paying our bills in full and on time is incredibly important. w

they assessed it never posed a direct threat to the united states, but we know the dprk's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program is a threat to regional peace and security to our allies, japan and south korea, but also potentially to the united states. that's why we're taking this with the utmost seriousness. we will be continuing to engage with our allies. we'll be engaging with the u.n. we have mounted sanctions against those responsible for these programs. and we'll look for additional ways to deter potential aggression from the north koreans and to hold accountable those who are behind these programs. >> neld, before i let you go, we learned yesterday the very sad news that former secretary of state madeleine albright, the first female secretary of state, passed away yesterday. she's someone who had a huge impact on the state department, i a sum had a huge impact on you as well. how is she being remembered today at the state department? >> she's being recked as the towering figure that she was. i say that about someone who wasn't quite 5 feet tall but she was towering in this bui

as i mentioned, the commission of inquire on syria, the special reporters for iran, north korea, dprk and burma. so a flawed institution, but one we want to make better by being at the table. we're more effective, my strong belief, when we're there pushing back on these issues. >> i'm out of time. thank you. >> thank you. all right. we'll go to vice chair jacobs. >> well, thank you very much, mr. chair, and thank you, assistant secretary, for testifying before the committee. i wanted to follow up on your answer to the chairman on u.s. standing at the u.n. and i wanted to talk about u.s. peacekeeping arrears at the u.n. and the impact it has on u.s. influence and standing. can you describe the specific impact arrears, past due payments, have had on the capabilities of peacekeeping operations and how have china or russia used this issue to their advantage at the u.n.? >> thank you so much, representative jacobs. i have to say thank you also for your longstanding interest and your leadership and advocacy on this issue. i was watching that even before i was confirmed. you know, so congres

important for the entire international community to speak with one voice that we know they have over the dprks continued missile program. i will not get into the details of the assessments we made, and it's out there in the public and i won't go beyond my public statements, but clearly these continued tests are provocation, and they are a violation of the u.n. security council resolutions and they give us as well as so many other nations added concern about the kinds of capabilities that the north is trying to develop. so again, we feel it was important to make that case and to lay it out there. as for whether it's a lesson learned, i would be careful drawing a direct bright line between these revelations about this program and revelations that we made early on even before the invasion of ukraine. when we believe that information should be in the public, we're going to put it in the public. we're going to -- we're going to state it as best we can. obviously there's some stuff we know that we're not going to talk about. we believe calling them out publicly for these tests was the right thing to

i guess i don't think hong kong is going the way of the dprk, but you know, i suppose it's possible. i mean you don't have western media, really and xinjiang and and tibet. so i guess that could be a precedent but i think hong kong is gonna remain as a major city and as long as they keep giving visas, there's at least gonna be some limited presence. i have to say, i mean bill it's you know, when you know, if you don't build a long time and we first knew each other it was you know in and i lifting korea i went there in the 80s when it was still, you know, under military under military rule the idea that the new york times would have editorial people in seoul because they couldn't be in hong kong for one reason or another initially for visa reasons. it's just mind boggling to me that in the space of 30 years a place like south korea that's under military control becomes, you know a very open society and a place like hong kong that seems so open is a place where they throw children's storybook illustrators into jail without bail. that's pretty pretty mind-boggling. um patty princess the

from iran, belarus, syria, and the dprk, burma to venezuela and , nicaragua. hope is not lost. one more way we are countering authoritarians worldwide is through the presidents summit for democracy. last december, more than half of u.n. member states came together to make commitments to strengthen our own democracies and reject authoritarianism. we are already seeing these governments translate words into action, demonstrated by the 93 out of 100 participants that supported in the historic march summit read -- march summit. to condemn the russia-ukraine invasion. we rolled out a suite of new tools to battle authoritarianism and bolster democracy. including efforts to stem the misuse of technology, accelerate solutions to combat russians were worldwide, expand access to local independent media and reduce the impact of disinformation and bolster more democratic reformers and inclusive resilient and equitable societies. in short, we are responding with allies and partners to the immediacy of russia's autocratic attack on democracy. as well as the p.r.c.'s long-term challenge to de

from iran, belarus, syria, the dprk, burma, to venezuela, cuba, and nicaragua. but hope is not lost. one more way we are countering authoritarian's worldwide is through the presidents summit for democracy. last december, more than half of un member states came together to make commitments to strengthen our own democracies and reject authoritarianism. we're already seeing these governments translate words into action. demonstrated by the 93 out of 100 cement participants who supported the historic march second un general assembly resolution to condemn russia's ukraine invasion. through the summit, we've rolled out a suite of new tools to combat authoritarianism and bolster democracy, including efforts to stem authoritarianism misuse of technology, accelerate solutions to combat corruption worldwide, expand access to local independent media and reduce the impact of disinformation. and bolster democratic reformers and support more inclusive resilient and equitable societies. in short, mister chairman and ranking member, we are responding with allies and partners to

training as training becomes restrictedli but also to expose them to other military when it comes to dprk he is focused internally on protecting his regime and act with the nuclear testing and the missiles and is really about protecting his position in the world. >> thank you, when it comes to the big question is how we present giga what they done in the last decade i know it's not one thing but to sum up how we need to change or military capability is in terms of where we should spend our money and what programs are the highest t priority what is the capability for capabilities we need to develop what china has done. >> taking g mr. sherman all go first if it's okay withdr the doctor. we must look through prc issue as not just today. it is a a short-term problem, medium-term problem in a long-term problem. i can tell you what were doing today as it applies to adjusting her posture and places we operate from in the amount and position of forces were reported is important that power in a place that matters with the right capabilities today is a deterrent factor combine that with exercising

international community to speak with one voice about the concerns that we know they have over the dprk continued ballistic missile program. i'm not going to get into any more details in terms of the assessments we have made, it's out there in the public, i won't go beyond the public statements, but clearly these continued tests are a provocation. they are a violation of u.n. security council resolution and they give us and other nations added concern about the kinds of capabilities that the north is trying to develop. and so again, we feel it was important to make that case and to lay it out there. and as for whether it's a lesson learned, i would be careful drawing a direct bright line between the revelations about this program and revelations we made early on, even before the invasion of ukraine. when we believe that information should be in the public, we are going to put it in the public, we are going to state it as best we can. obviously there's some stuff we know that we are not going to talk about, but we believe that calling them out publicly for these tests was the right thing

the human rights crises in burma, cuba, the dprk, iran, south sudan, syria, venezuela and yemen among others also demand this council's ongoing attention. in each of these places we must not only denounce abuses that work to stop them and hold perpetrators responsible. yet, to moment when the world needs both moral clarity and unity from this council, some governments are arguing that sovereignty gives companies the right to do whatever they want within their borders. it is no coincidence that many of the government making this argument are systematically abusing human rights and have been eerily silent in the face of russia's they quit assault on ukraine's sovereignty. the universal declaration on human rights begins with the wide universe because nations decided there are some mice that every person, every wire is entitled to enjoy. members of the scans of a special responsibility to strengthen, not weaken, those rights. 0ne responsibility to strengthen, not weaken, those rights. one way to do thatis weaken, those rights. one way to do that is by welcoming scrutiny of our own record