SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea has decided to recognize Kosovo as an independent state, a government official said Thursday.
The Cabinet decided on the move at a meeting earlier this week, the senior government official told The Associated Press. He asked not to be named because he did not want to comment publicly before an official announcement is made.
South Korea joins the United States and most countries in the European Union in recognizing Kosovo as an independent state. Serbia's authorities have said Kosovo's declaration of independence was illegal under international law.
Earlier this month, Kosovo's Serbs clashed with United Nations and NATO troops in the northern, Serb-dominated part of Mitrovica, leaving a UN policeman dead and dozens injured. The UN accused Belgrade of orchestrating the violence with the goal of splitting Kosovo.
On Tuesday, Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci rejected a Serbian government proposal to partition Kosovo between its minority Serbs and dominant ethnic Albanians, saying Kosovo's territorial integrity is guaranteed by NATO and other international organizations.
