Korea to hold multinational maritime drill against spread of WMD

Korea will host a multinational maritime drill aimed at intercepting weapons of mass destruction in its southern waters next week, the defense ministry said Tuesday.

Korea, the United States, Japan and Australia will carry out the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) exercise on Sept. 27 in waters 100 kilometers south of the southern port city of Busan, the ministry said.

Seven warships and 11 aircraft from the four nations will participate in the exercise.

Unlike the other three nations, however, a Japanese ship will not enter the Busan port, a senior official said, a decision believed to reflect the recent souring of relations between Seoul and Tokyo.

Ties between South Korea and Japan have plunged to one of their lowest ebbs after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made an unprecedented visit to the eastern islets of Dokdo last month. Japan claims the East Sea islets as its own.

"Japan seems to be aware of the anti-Japan sentiment in South Korea over Dokdo," the official said, asking anonymity due to sensitivity of the issue. "It seems that a Japanese warship will enter the port over worries that protests may take place near the Busan port."

Ahead of the drill, Korea's foreign ministry will host a meeting of the PSI's Operational Experts Group (OEG) in Seoul from Sept. 24-25 to discuss and test the simulated scenario and other measures, the ministry said.

Korea joined the 98-nation PSI in 2009 after North Korea conducted its second nuclear test in May of that year. It became a full member of the OEG the next year after the North's deadly attack against a Korean warship in March of 2010 prompted Seoul to seek a bigger role in the anti-WMD program.

Pyongyang has condemned the move as a "declaration of war" against Pyongyang.

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 says it amounts to a naval blockade on the communist country. (Yonhap)