ID :
56273
Mon, 04/20/2009 - 08:42
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/56273
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea regrets N. Korea's warning against joining U.S.-led security drive
SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Sunday expressed regret over the
North's warning against joining a U.S.-led campaign against weapons of mass
destruction and reasserted that its planned participation is not specifically
targeting Pyongyang.
The North's military warned on Saturday that it will consider Seoul's joining in
the Proliferation Security Drive (PSI) as tantamount to a "declaration of a war."
The North also hinted at a possible provocation, saying "Seoul is just 50 km away
from the Military Demarcation Line," along which North Korean artillery is
dispatched.
The threat came simultaneously with a rare offer of dialogue; the first from
Pyongyang since the Lee Myung-bak government took office in February last year.
Officials of the two Koreas are set to meet in a joint industrial complex on
North Korea's soil on Tuesday.
"Our government regrets the intimidating words and actions being repeated by
North Korea and points out that such behavior is not helpful to the peace and
stability of the Korean Peninsula and development of inter-Korean relations,"
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said in a commentary.
The PSI was launched by the George W. Bush administration in 2003 to interdict
and seize transports carrying weapons of mass destruction, with North Korea seen
as one of its primary targets. Seoul, mindful of North Korean reactions, has so
far remained as an observer.
The Lee government has said it will fully join in the anti-proliferation drive,
but after several delays, it again postponed joining the PSI on Saturday.
Officials said the government's position remains unchanged but it will announce
its participation after the rare inter-Korean talks are held on Tuesday.
"We make it clear that the PSI, as an effort by the international community aimed
at containing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, does not target a
specific nation and (Seoul's participation) is separate from inter-Korean
relations and is not a declaration of war against North Korea," the ministry
spokesman said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
North's warning against joining a U.S.-led campaign against weapons of mass
destruction and reasserted that its planned participation is not specifically
targeting Pyongyang.
The North's military warned on Saturday that it will consider Seoul's joining in
the Proliferation Security Drive (PSI) as tantamount to a "declaration of a war."
The North also hinted at a possible provocation, saying "Seoul is just 50 km away
from the Military Demarcation Line," along which North Korean artillery is
dispatched.
The threat came simultaneously with a rare offer of dialogue; the first from
Pyongyang since the Lee Myung-bak government took office in February last year.
Officials of the two Koreas are set to meet in a joint industrial complex on
North Korea's soil on Tuesday.
"Our government regrets the intimidating words and actions being repeated by
North Korea and points out that such behavior is not helpful to the peace and
stability of the Korean Peninsula and development of inter-Korean relations,"
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said in a commentary.
The PSI was launched by the George W. Bush administration in 2003 to interdict
and seize transports carrying weapons of mass destruction, with North Korea seen
as one of its primary targets. Seoul, mindful of North Korean reactions, has so
far remained as an observer.
The Lee government has said it will fully join in the anti-proliferation drive,
but after several delays, it again postponed joining the PSI on Saturday.
Officials said the government's position remains unchanged but it will announce
its participation after the rare inter-Korean talks are held on Tuesday.
"We make it clear that the PSI, as an effort by the international community aimed
at containing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, does not target a
specific nation and (Seoul's participation) is separate from inter-Korean
relations and is not a declaration of war against North Korea," the ministry
spokesman said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
