Global Security Newswire

In the wake of North Korea's latest nuclear blast, South Korea said today it was joining the U.S.-led program to interdict illicit shipments of weapons of mass destruction and their component parts, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, April 23).

"Our participation in the [Proliferation Security Initiative] is necessary, in light of the very grave situation that North Korea has conducted a nuclear test," Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told lawmakers (see related GSN story, today).

U.S. President Barack Obama expressed his appreciation for the decision in a telephone conversation with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (Agence France-Presse I/NASDAQ.com, May 26).

Seoul has been solely an observer to the Proliferation Security Initiative, deferring full participation in order to avoid aggravating Pyongyang. The North, a known weapons exporter, has said it would consider its neighbor's involvement in the multilateral effort a declaration of war.

The South indicated last month it would reconsider its stance after North Korea's rocket launch, an event seen by several nations as a test of long-range missile technology (see GSN, April 6). Several weeks passed without a formal declaration, but Monday's nuclear test eliminated any reason for further delay, government sources in Seoul told the Yonhap News Agency.

The move was made "to cope with the serious threat that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missiles poses to world peace and security," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young.

"But maritime agreements reached between South and North Korea will still remain valid," he added, addressing pacts that allow each nation's cargo vessels to pass through the territorial waters of the other country (Agence France-Presse II/ChannelNewsAsia, May 26).