North Korea on Tuesday again cautioned South Korea against joining a U.S.-led program to prevent the smuggling of weapons of mass destruction, United Press International reported (see GSN, April 22).
South Korea would prompt a "confrontation" on the peninsula by joining the Proliferation Security Initiative, North Korean officials said at a meeting between the sides, sources told the Yonhap News Agency. Pyongyang has previously said that Seoul would be issuing a "declaration of war" by joining the program.
"When you look at a message or a keynote speech, there is what can be called an introduction similar to that of a written document. I believe the North Korean side did mention the PSI issue," South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyon said.
South Korea to date has been only an observer to the program, but has indicated its intention to become a full participant in the wake of the North's April 5 rocket launch (United Press International, April 22).