May 28 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea’s nuclear test and bellicose rhetoric are raising the stakes for the U.S. and its Asian allies as defense officials head to Singapore for an annual security conference this week, Pentagon officials said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will consult on potential responses to North Korea in a meeting with counterparts from Japan and South Korea, his spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters in Washington. Gates is also set to confer with China’s deputy chief of the general staff for the People’s Liberation Army, Lieutenant General Ma Xiaotian.

The North Korea crisis might change military conditions in the region, a U.S. official briefing reporters on the trip said on the condition of anonymity.

The security talks, scheduled for three days starting tomorrow, follow North Korea’s threat that it would respond militarily to South Korea’s planned participation in a U.S.-led program to seize weapons of mass destruction. Gates aims to reassure allies that the economic crisis and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan won’t dilute U.S. attention to the region or diminish security assurances under President Barack Obama.

Gates will be there “to tell them, just as he did last year, that we are fully engaged and committed to this region, if not more so,” Morrell said.

Clinton Pledge

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton underscored that point yesterday, saying the U.S. “intends always to honor” its commitments to defend South Korea and Japan. “That is part of our alliance obligations which we take very seriously,” Clinton told reporters.

Gates will be joined in Singapore by U.S. officials including Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and Admiral Timothy Keating, head of the U.S. Pacific Command.

They will confer with officials from more than 20 government delegations of Asian and European nations.

North Korea has sent belligerent messages since its underground nuclear blast on May 25 and South Korea’s subsequent decision to join the inspection effort. The regime said yesterday that it would no longer abide by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.

Military Threat

“The Korean People’s Army will not be bound to the Armistice Agreement any longer,” the official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement. Any attempt to inspect North Korean vessels will be countered with “prompt and strong military strikes.” South Korea’s military said it will “deal sternly with any provocation” from the North.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak ordered his government to take “calm” measures on the threats, his office said in a statement. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura echoed those remarks and called on North Korea to “refrain from taking actions that would elevate tensions in Asia.”

The threats are the strongest since North Korea’s underground nuclear detonation, which drew international condemnation and the prospect of increased sanctions against the communist nation. South Korea dispatched a warship to its maritime border and is prepared to deploy aircraft, Yonhap News reported, citing military officials it didn’t identify.

Gates will stress to allies in the region that the U.S. plans to remain a presence both with troops as well as training and support, a second U.S. defense official said.

The meeting is the seventh annual Asia Security Summit organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Allies Coordinate

“This is a golden opportunity to coordinate with allies and others in the region,” said Nicholas Szechenyi, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“This year, the other countries that will be represented will not only be looking for reassurance, but for U.S. ideas and initiative” in response to North Korea, said Szechenyi, who is co-author of a quarterly journal on East Asian relations.

Gates will go from the conference to the Philippines, where he is scheduled to meet with officials to discuss their joint counter-terrorism efforts. About 600 U.S. troops help train and support the Philippine army in counter-terrorism work.

To contact the reporter on this story: Viola Gienger in Washington at vgienger@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 27, 2009 19:11 EDT