Monitoring of N. Korea to be bolstered during ASEAN summit: official

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States will step up their
intelligence activities over North Korea when the leaders of Southeast Asian
countries meet next week in South Korea, a senior official here said Wednesday.

South Korea will host the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit from June 1-2 on its
southern resort island of Jeju. ASEAN stands for the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.
The talks come as tension runs high on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea
conducted its second nuclear test Monday and fired short-range missiles from its
east coast.
On Wednesday, the North vowed military retaliation against South Korea over its
decision to fully participate in a U.S.-led anti-proliferation campaign, calling
it a precursor to a naval blockade.
"During the summit meetings, our military will escalate its alert and mobilize
additional intelligence assets," Lieutenant General Jang Kwang-il, a Joint Chiefs
of Staff official, told reporters.
The U.S., which has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against
North Korea, has pledged to lend support in the area, Jang said, declining to
elaborate.
The allies actively share information on North Korea, mobilizing a range of
assets, including satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles.
According to a separate defense source, South Korea plans to elevate its alert
from May 31 to June 2, while appointing a rear admiral as chief of security
forces to guard the meetings in Jeju.
"It's not only Jeju, but the entire South Korean territory where security will be
stepped up," he said.
Since President Lee Myung-bak took office early last year in Seoul with a pledge
to get tough on Pyongyang, relations between the Koreas have deteriorated to
their worst level in a decade.
North Korea, which blames Lee for the frayed ties, has threatened armed conflict
this year along their western sea border, where clashes turned deadly in 1999 and
2002.
The Koreas remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a
truce rather than a peace treaty. North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in
2006.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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