South Korea is beefing up surveillance operations as North Korea appears on the verge of launching a rocket that it says is meant to orbit a satellite.
``The move would mean elevating the official watch condition to the second highest level to counter any contingencies that could arise along with the launch," Yonhap News Agency quoted a Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) official as saying.
A clear North Korean move indicating an imminent launch, expected between Saturday and Wednesday, will prompt the South Korean JCS to convene an emergency meeting and discuss raising the level, he said.
Pyongyang, whose relations with Seoul have rapidly unraveled over the past year, has warned of conflicts along their intensely guarded border.
South Korea worries North Korea may go ahead with provocations that could accompany the rocket launch, seen by the U.S. and Japan as a cover for a test of ballistic missile technology banned under a U.N. resolution.
South Korea's five-stage "Watchcon" is locked at third stage at present. An elevation would mean deploying more military resources, including surveillance aircraft and satellite equipment, and increasing their use to monitor North Korean territory.
"Surveillance will increase in both intensity and broadness," a Ministry of National Defense official said, adding the number of surveillance aircraft deployed in a single mission could increase.
South and North Korea are technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.