S. Korea to bolster watch over N. Korea ahead of rocket launch: officials

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea may ratchet up surveillance operations
once North Korea appears on the verge of launching a rocket that it says is meant
to orbit a satellite, officials here said Friday.

The move would mean "elevating the official watch condition to the second highest
level to counter any contingencies that could arise along with the launch," a
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) official said, speaking on customary condition of
anonymity.
A clear North Korean move indicating an imminent launch, expected between
Saturday and Wednesday, will prompt the South Korean JCS to convene an emergency
meeting and discuss raising the level, he said.
Pyongyang, whose relations with Seoul have rapidly unraveled over the past year,
has warned of conflicts along their intensely guarded border.
South Korea worries North Korea may go ahead with provocations that could
accompany the rocket launch, seen by the U.S. and Japan as a cover for a test of
ballistic missile technology banned under a U.N. resolution.
South Korea's five-stage "Watchcon" is locked at third stage at present. An
elevation would mean deploying more military resources, including surveillance
aircraft and satellite equipment, and increasing their use to monitor North
Korean territory.
"Surveillance will increase in both intensity and broadness," a Ministry of
National Defense official said, adding the number of surveillance aircraft
deployed in a single mission could increase.
South and North Korea are technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended
in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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