By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

The Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday that it is drawing up operational guidelines for interdicting North Korean ships suspected of carrying materials that could be used for weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

The ministry reported the plan to a National Assembly committee.

The move is part of efforts to observe the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1874 adopted after North Korea conducted a second nuclear test May 25, defying calls by the international community to give up its nuclear ambitions.

The resolution, endorsed unanimously by UNSC members, bans North Korea from trafficking a wide range of WMDs and conventional weaponry. It calls on U.N. member states to search North Korean ships if there are ``reasonable grounds'' to suspect that they are carrying contraband cargo.

The Seoul government announced a day after the North's nuclear test that it would become a full-fledged member of the U.S.-led counter-proliferation campaign _ the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). The PSI was launched in 2003 to prevent the transfer of WMDs, their delivery systems and related materials by air, ground and sea to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern.

South Korea had been an observer state for the initiative, which currently consists of 95 member countries. North Korea, known for exporting illicit weapons, is among the major targets of the initiative.

Pyongyang has strongly denounced ship searching plans under the latest U.N. resolution and Seoul's active participation in the PSI, threatening to provoke a ``war'' should its cargo ships be interdicted by foreign forces.

``The outcome of the latest meeting of PSI experts in Poland will be included in the envisioned operational guidelines,'' the report said.

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade sent a delegation to the PSI's European Regional Operational Experts Group meeting in Sopot, Poland, held from June 22 to 24.

Efforts will be made to build diplomatic channels and strengthen cooperation with PSI member states, the report states.

Discussions over the roles of the Navy, the Maritime Police and the customs under PSI operations will also had, it said.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr