South Korea Pledges Some PSI Cooperation

South Korea today pledged limited cooperation with a U.S.-led WMD interdiction effort, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 22, 2005).

The Proliferation Security Initiative, a series of bilateral ship-boarding agreements designed to uncover illicit shipments of WMD materials on the high seas, has faced criticism from North Korea, according to AP. 

Seoul has not committed to formally joining the effort, but agreed to provide “possible cooperation” and to send delegates to observe interdiction exercises. Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon called it a “sensitive” issue.

“South Korea shares the purpose of PSI and will cooperate on a case-by-case basis, but is not considering formally joining” the effort, he said (Jae-Soon Chang, Associated Press, Jan. 24).

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