NK ship interdiction exercise to be held next week off Busan

By Jung Sung-ki

South Korea will host a multinational ship-interdiction maneuver next week in the waters off Busan, the Ministry of National Defense announced Wednesday.

The forthcoming Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) exercise, codenamed Eastern Endeavor 10, is aimed at preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and illicit weapons of rogue states, such as North Korea, a senior official at the ministry said.

The high-profile exercise comes as tension remains high on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of North Korea’s alleged attack on a South Korean warship in March and the latest father-to-son power succession move in the North.

The exercise will be held Oct. 13-14 in the waters about 28 kilometers offshore with the participation of about 15 nations, the official said. A seminar on joint maritime operations will be held Oct. 14 at a local hotel.

Participants include the United States, Japan, Australia, France, Canada, New Zealand, Turkey, Chile, Argentina, Italy and Spain, he said. Russia, Switzerland and Sweden are also considering participating in the drill, according to the official.

“This exercise is part of follow-up measures to the May 24 announcement of sanctioning North Korea,” the official told reporters. “But the exercise is not necessarily targeting a specific country because the nature of the PSI is to stop any attempt to proliferate WMDs by any nation.”

Some of the participating nations were also negative about a move by South Korea to use the PSI exercise in sanctioning the North, he said.

The South Korean Navy will deploy two 4,500-ton KDX-II destroyers, two landing ship tanks, P-3C maritime patrol aircraft, Lynx anti-submarine helicopters and UH-60 helicopters, the official said. The Korean Coast Guard will also dispatch ships and helicopters.

Special forces from the Navy, the coast guard and the Army’s nuclear, biological and chemical unit will also take part in the drill, he said.

The U.S. Navy will send a 9,000-ton destroyer, a P-3C plane and an SH-60 helicopter, while the Japan Maritime Self-Defense will dispatch two 4,000-ton destroyers and an SH-60 helicopter. Australia will send a P-3C aircraft.

On May 24, the Lee Myung-bak government declared that it will participate with full cooperation in the PSI, a U.S.-led global campaign aimed at interdicting ships suspected of carrying material that could be used for WMDs.

The announcement followed the sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan near the disputed western sea border with the North on March 26. A Seoul-led multinational team of investigators determined that the ship was sunk by a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine.

Pyongyang has denied any involvement in the incident that killed 46 South Korean sailors.

Whether to get involved or not in the international exercise has been a source of debate as the government was worried that such an action would provoke a severe backlash from North Korea and undermine cross-border relations.

After North Korea conducted a second nuclear test in May last year, however, the Lee administration announced it will become a full-fledged PSI member. More than 90 nations are participating in the initiative.

Seoul has yet to fully participate in the training, but has provided relevant resources to allied forces.