In reaction to the latest military conflict between North and South Korea, President Ma Ying-jeou called an urgent national security meeting on Tuesday afternoon,

in which it was decided that Taiwan's armed forces would not upgrade the alert level for the time being. And the Ministry of Foreign Affairs later issued a statement condemning North Korea's provocative actions.

Since the latest military conflict on the Korean Peninsula took place on Tuesday, President Ma called a small-scale national security meeting and decided to express that our government condemns North Korea's attack on South Korea.

President Ma was kept abreast of the latest developments on the peninsula and instructed the Executive Yuan to clarify the government's stance.

In the evening, top officials including National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen,

Premier Wu Den-yhi,

Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jin-tian had a meeting and decided that the government takes a stand against North Korea's attack.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed the statement to the international community.

The Ministry of National Defense already assigned General Chen Yung-kang,

the deputy chief of general staff, to take up position at the Hengshan Military Command to closely monitor the situation.

The government has no plan to raise the alert level for travelers to Korea for now. But it will be closely watching possible new developments.