President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday called for national unity, which she cited as a prerequisite for achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and laying the groundwork for reunification.
In a video message to a session of the National Unification Advisory Council, Park also pledged to establish a "new order" on the peninsula by severing the vicious cycle of North Korean provocations followed by rewards.
"Following its fourth nuclear test and missile launch early this year, North Korea has been threatening the peace of South Korea and the international community, while claiming to be a nuclear power and vowing to launch additional provocations," she said.
"But we will not be rattled by it," she added, stressing that Seoul, in tandem with the international community, will maintain a robust deterrence against the communist regime and persuade it to reverse course and give up its nuclear program.
A day earlier, Park called Pyongyang's recent overtures for dialogue a "deceit" intended to turn around the situation where the international community, including its ally China, has employed a sanctions-centric approach to pressure the North to renounce its nuclear ambitions.
Despite mounting calls for its denuclearization, Pyongyang has dug in its heels, continuing to push for its much-criticized policy of simultaneously pursuing economic development and nuclear armament -- goals that Seoul says are "incompatible." (Yonhap)
