South Korea said Sunday that it dispatched a team of three government officials to observe the first international drill to interdict cargo suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction (WMD) since North Korea's nuclear weapon test on Oct. 9.
South Korea is among the 25 countries to participate in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) exercise to be held this week off the coast of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, according to the U.S. State Department.
"The government sent three officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) and Coast Guard to the exercise slated for Oct. 30-31," a MOFAT official said.
"But they are going to just observe it," he added. "The decision was made well ahead of the North's nuclear test."
South Korea has joined the PSI as an observer, not full-time participant, since last year for fear of a maritime clash with its communist neighbor.
Seoul has come under growing pressure to fully participate in the U.S.-led initiative, which calls for the interdiction and search of shipments mainly in and out of the reclusive North.
Speaking at a parliamentary hearing on Friday, Song Min-soon, President Roh Moo-hyun's top security advisor, said that "the government will decide the level of steps related to the expansion of its role in the PSI from the position that it never take a measure leading to a sea blockade of North Korea." Former President Kim Dae-jung, however, urged South Korea to stay away from the PSI, saying it could trigger armed clashes, a view supported by the ruling Uri Party.
"If South Korea takes measures in favor of the PSI in waters near the Korean Peninsula, it may lead to military confrontation and even a war," Kim said in a speech during a visit to his political hometown, Mokpo, on Saturday.
Kim, 82, stepped down in early 2003 after a five-year term, during which he actively pushed his "sunshine" policy of engaging with North Korea. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 after holding the first-ever inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
In Washington, the State Department said this week's PSI exercise, dubbed "Leading Edge," is to ensure "that the Gulf States will actively prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems and related materials."
It underlined that the exercise is the "first since the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 and includes the participation of Japan and South Korea."
The U.N. resolution was passed a week after North Korea conducted the nuclear weapon test, and sanctions the communist regime. PSI-style stops and searches of North Korean shipments are the pillars of the sanctions.
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Yonhap)
S. Korea sends delegates to observe PSI exercise |
