Plans to keep Aussies safe in Korea April 4, 2013 - 8:01PM Defence has made contingency plans to ensure the safety of Australians in South Korea, amid concerns about North Korea's threats of a nuclear strike. Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr will make a personal appeal for China to persuade North Korea to "ratchet down" its behaviour after the rogue nation threatened a nuclear strike against the United States. The announcement came after the US moved to protect military bases on Guam, an island about 3380km southeast of North Korea and home to 6000 American military personnel, submarines and bombers. Defence Minister Stephen Smith says Australia has publicly and consistently told North Korea it should desist from its provocative statements about South Korea and its provocative action. He says Australia has a small number of Defence personnel on the Korean Peninsula at the moment. "We have a small number of personnel as part of the United Nations contingent," Mr Smith told Sky News on Thursday. But there are very many Australians who regularly are in the Republic of Korea - in Seoul in South Korea - for tourist or for business purposes, and we have contingency plans to deal with their safety and security, and obviously that's done in conjunction with Korean, United States and UN authorities. Mr Smith said Australia had seen this type of provocation from North Korea in the past and it had led either to exchanges of robust language or the occasional artillery exchange. But in terms of what our future involvement might be, we take that step by step.