There are no signs of imminent North Korean provocations ahead of its key anniversary this week, a South Korean military official said Monday, adding that Seoul's military is maintaining a high state of monitoring and readiness in cooperation with the United States.
North Korea will celebrate the founding of its ruling Workers' Party of Korea on Tuesday, and the allies have been predicting some sort of provocation from the communist state, such as missile launch, to mark the special day.
"We have yet to detect any signs of immediate provocations from North Korea," a South Korean military source said. "We are maintaining an upgraded monitoring effort to guard against any developments."
(Yonhap)
The allies are employing all surveillance assets available to keep tabs on the isolated country. They are using U-2S high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, RC-800 signal intelligence gathering airplane, RF-16 jet, E-737 airborne warning and control system planes as well as P-3C maritime patrol aircraft.
An Aegis warship equipped with SPY-1D radar that can detect ballistic missiles is in the East Sea and the Green Pine land-based long-range radar is also in operation. These radars are able to spot North Korea's ballistic missiles within two minutes of launch.
The source said South Korea's Ministry of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff and military's crisis action team are ready for immediate operation if such provocations take place. (Yonhap)
