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Seoul (ANTARA / Oana-Yonhap) - South Korea plans to become key members of the anti-proliferation exercise led by the United States, as part of the phase of counterattack against the North Koreans are to blame for the sinking of warships last March.

A Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said South Korea has been participating fully in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which consists of 95 countries, since North Korea tested a second nuclear weapons in May last year.

South Korean officials said Seoul is now being stepped to be one of 20 members of the Operational Experts Group (OEG), which plays an important role in these exercises.

These measures were taken at the time of the Seoul improve tekanannyanya against Pyongyang, which are sinking corvette Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors on March 26, near their western border.

"We have decided to join in the OEG" at the end of this year, while considering the launch of the PSI maritime exercise regiional, the official said.

OEG membership will allow South Korea to get more rare photographs and other types of information about North Korea, known as dark-exporting weapons, the official said.

The PSI was launched in 2003 under the government of President George W. Bush, to stop the widespread dissemination of mass destruction weapons.

North Korea is among the major targets of the initiative, saying that, some sea blockade has been imposed against the communist country.

PSI has no secretariat, and its role is handled by the OEG.