The head of U.S. military forces in the Pacific yesterday said he is "relatively confident" North Korea will follow through with disabling its nuclear facilities.

"Peace on the (Korean) Peninsula within our lifetime seems more likely, more possible, than it did two, three, four years ago. It's not over yet, not over yet, but we're cautiously optimistic," Adm. Timothy J. Keating said following a summit involving military leaders from more than two dozen nations.

A team of U.S. experts will begin disabling North Korea's nuclear facilities on Monday, U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said yesterday, marking the biggest step the communist country has taken to scale back its atomic program.

North Korea in July shut down its main reactor at Yongbyon, north of the capital, and promised to disable it by year's end in exchange for energy aid and political concessions from other members who took part in six-party talks with North Korea: the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

Disabling the reactor would mark a milestone in efforts to convince the North to scale back its nuclear program. The country conducted its first-ever nuclear test in October of last year.

"The catch phrase we've all heard is 'trust but verify,' and the verification is an important point," Keating said.

He added that "we're going to need to have eyes on the ground and not just rely on external sensors to ensure the North Koreans fulfill their side of the bargain."

Keating, headquartered at Camp Smith, made the comments after wrapping up the 10th annual Chiefs of Defense conference. The several-day meeting, held this year at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort at Ko Olina, brought together senior military leaders from 25 Asia-Pacific nations. Last year, the meeting was held in Malaysia.

Defense chiefs from Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, Cambodia, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Vietnam and the U.S. participated.

Keating said "there is immense power" in the gathering of like-minded individuals committed to the common cause of peace and stability.

The sizes of the forces vary tremendously — Tonga has a military of less than 5,000 people, while Japan's is in the hundreds of thousands — but Keating said each nation has capabilities that it can bring to bear. Absent from the meeting was China, whose rapid military rise is being watched closely.

"We're sorry China is not here. They were invited. They chose not to come. We would prefer that they were here," Keating said. "All of us in a way, shape or fashion are anxious to engage with the People's Republic of China. We see no advantage in putting them on the shelf or trying to circumscribe them. We're anxious to engage with them and we're making every effort to do so."

Five-nation war games in September in the Bay of Bengal involving India, U.S., Japanese, Australian and Singaporean warships were seen by some analysts as creating a bulwark against China, but U.S. officials denied the exercise was aimed at isolating China.

Keating, who has continued the policy of military engagement with China that was accelerated under his predecessor, Adm. William Fallon, said interaction is important to reduce the potential for misunderstandings that can lead to confusion, confrontation and crisis.

Lt. Gen. Desmond Kuek, chief of the Singapore defense force, said, "We are not at all concerned" about China's military growth, and that it is "part of their natural need to build up their military capability to deal with their security concerns."

He added that Singapore wants to work with China toward a stronger regional security environment.

Maritime security and disaster relief were among the topics broached at the conference.

Lt. Gen. Syed Athar Ali, the director general of the joint staff for Pakistan, said the Chiefs of Defense meetings help to ensure closer military coordination in the event of disaster relief or peace-keeping operations, and "that will go a long way in the smooth execution of such operations."

Keating said although the participants are similarly committed to the common cause of peace and stability, he does not recommend a formal organization like NATO .

"It works well in the European construct," Keating said, but in the Pacific, the ad hoc gatherings like the Chiefs of Defense meetings help build cooperation. A Web site also was created for Asia-Pacific nations to contact one another quickly, he said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.