SEOUL, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- South Korea and the United States are preparing to warn North Korea against further provocative actions, South Korean defense officials said.
Brig. Gen. Jung Yeon-bong, deputy international policy director at the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, said Monday when the top defense officials of the two allies meet this week in Seoul, they will issue a warning to Pyongyang against relapsing into provocative behavior, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
"Having these meetings at a time like this will amount to a grave warning to North Korea," Jung said.
An unnamed South Korean military leader told Yonhap that during the Security Consultative Meeting, on Thursday, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young and U.S. counterpart Robert Gates "will be sure to warn North Korea against further escalating military tensions."
North Korea has alternated a willingness to resume negotiations on its nuclear program with saber-rattling to keep the outside world off guard, analysts told the news agency.
