S. Korea fine-tunes countermeasures to N. Korean rocket

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan called a
meeting of high-level ministry officials on Sunday for a last-minute review of
Seoul's contingency plans in case of a North Korean rocket launch.
North Korea passed Saturday, the first day of the five-day launch period it had
announced, without a launch, but observers expect the North to fire its rocket as
early as possible. Weather agencies forecast fair weather without rain or strong
winds around the launch site along the North's east coast throughout Sunday.
Pyongyang told global agencies on aviation and shipping safety that a blast-off
would occur between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., local time.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak plans to convene an emergency National
Security Council (NSC) meeting as soon as the North's launch is confirmed,
according to officials.
It would be the first NSC meeting presided over by Lee since a previous one last
July to discuss the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at a coastal
mountain resort in the North and Japan's renewed attempt to claim Dokdo, a set of
South Korean-controlled islets in the East Sea.
"We have mapped out countermeasures to various scenarios including the success
and failure of a launch," a ministry official said. "A set of measures will be
decided on in the NSC meeting."
He added that the government will issue a statement "expressing strong regret" or
"denouncing" the launch.
The foreign ministry is also expected to issue a separate announcement that Seoul
will join the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), aimed at curbing
the spread of weapons of massive destruction.
The South Korean foreign minister, who chairs the country's security policy
coordination meeting, plans to have telephone consultations with his counterparts
from the U.S., Japan, and other regional powers.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)