Seoul to lead role in multinational drill slammed by Pyongyang

The Korean government plans to become a core member of a U.S.-led anti-proliferation drill as part of retaliatory steps against North Korea that has been blamed for the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, Yonhap News reported Sunday.

South Korea has been a full participant in the 95-nation Proliferation of Security Initiative (PSI) since North Korea conducted its second nuclear test in May last year.

Yonhap quoted a South Korean official as saying that Seoul is now moving to become one of the 20 members of the Operational Experts Group (OEG) that play leading roles in the exercise. The move comes as Seoul steps up its pressure on Pyongyang to admit to the sinking of the Cheonan corvette that killed 46 sailors on March 26 near their western sea border.

"We have decided to join the OEG" by the end of this year while considering the launch of a regional maritime PSI drill, the official said. An OEG seat would allow South Korea to procure more rare photos and other types of information on North Korea known as an exporter of illicit weapons, the official said.

The PSI was launched in 2003 under the George W. Bush administration to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction. North Korea is among the major targets of the initiative, which it says amounts to a naval blockade on the communist country.

The PSI has no secretariat, a role taken up by the OEG.