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S Korean president opposes military response against DPRK

SOUTH Korean president Lee Myung-bak said today that he opposes taking military responses against the DPRK's rocket launch, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported today.

"What I do oppose is to militarily respond to these kinds of actions because it is also not in their interest to test-fire anything," the South Korean president was quoted as saying in an interview with the British Newspaper Financial Times.

The president, however, added that some countries, such as Japan, are "rightly" concerned about the rocket launch in that it is highly related to the safety of their own citizens.

The remarks came shortly after the US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that the United States has no intention of intercepting the DPRK rocket unless it is directed towards US territory.

Lee also urged the North to keep away from taking threatening measures for it can only be interpreted as an attempt to test its missile capabilities no matter what their true intentions are.

The president emphasized that South Korea's main goal in dealing with the DPRK is, however long it may take, to peacefully reunify the two sides.

The DPRK has said that it will launch a communications satellite between April 4 and April 8.



 

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