Korea to host major anti-proliferation naval exercise

Defense Ministry spokesman Jeon Ha-gyu speaks at a press briefing at the Ministry of Defense in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Monday. [YONHAP]

Korea will host a multilateral maritime exercise, including naval forces from the United States and Japan, as part of an international anti-proliferation initiative later this month, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Monday.

The exercise, named Eastern Endeavor 23, is aimed at bolstering participants’ maritime interdiction capabilities and timed to coincide with a high-level meeting of ministers from countries attending the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) on Jeju Island at the end of this month.

“Our military is planning to conduct a combined maritime interdiction exercise with the United States, Japan and other countries on the occasion of the high-level PSI meeting set to take place in Korea in late May,” ministry spokesman Jeon Ha-gyu said.

Jeon added that the exercise had previously been held in cooperation with other countries on multiple occasions.

According to a Defense Ministry official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, Eastern Endeavor 23 will likely focus on intercepting and seizing contraband materials related to WMDs.

Launched in 2003, PSI is an international effort specifically targeting the trafficking of WMDs, their delivery systems and related materials.

The initiative was announced by then-U.S. President George W. Bush, soon after a Spanish destroyer in the Arabian Sea discovered a Cambodian-registered freighter with a North Korean crew bound for Yemen in December 2002.

The Spanish crew requested the assistance of a nearby U.S. naval vessel and boarded the ship, which was found to be carrying 15 North Korean-made Scud missiles with conventional warheads and chemical propellant.

Because this discovery was not in breach of any national or international law or agreement, the Cambodian-registered vessel was allowed to continue on its journey with its cargo.

The United States hosted the first Asia-Pacific PSI exercise in 2014. Other PSI participants have hosted their own exercises alongside the initiative, such as Eastern Endeavor in South Korea, Pacific Shield in Japan and Pacific Protector in Australia.

In August last year, the United States hosted the five-day PSI exercise Fortune Guard 22 in Hawaii. Some 21 countries participated, including South Korea.

In the past, PSI participants have rehearsed procedures to carry out pre-emptive interdictions, which include detaining the crews of suspicious vessels and searching ships and aircraft once they enter PSI members’ territorial waters or national airspace.

Countries that are part of the initiative also deny suspicious aircraft over-flight or take-off rights should they stop to refuel in member states.

This year’s PSI is expected to not only focus on stopping illegal WMD shipments, but also ship-to-ship transfers North Korea reportedly utilizes to evade international sanctions on oil imports.

Ship-to-ship transfers of oil to tankers bound for North Korea have been documented numerous times in recent years, highlighting the need for increased maritime policing efforts.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]