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President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap) |
President Moon Jae-in ordered his national security team Tuesday to comprehensively analyze North Korea's intentions behind its latest missile launch and statements, issued a few days earlier, on inter-Korean relations.
He issued the call after receiving a briefing on the outcome of an emergency National Security Council (NSC) session from Suh Hoon, director of national security, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.
Earlier in the day, North Korea test-fired a short-range missile toward the East Sea, the South's military said without specifying whether it was a ballistic one.
The president told Suh, who serves as his national security adviser, to conduct a "comprehensive and close analysis" of the missile firing and its recent statements to map out ways to cope with the security situation, Park said in a brief press release.
Moon was referring to the back-to-back statements of Kim Yo-jong, sister of the North's leader Kim Jon-un, in which she said Pyongyang would consider declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, as proposed by Moon, and holding summit talks with the South, if Seoul restores mutual trust. Kim, who holds a senior position in the North's regime, stopped short of providing details of what Pyongyang wants.
Meanwhile, the NSC expressed "regret" over the missile launch, saying it came at a time when the stabilization of the Korean Peninsula security situation is very important. (Yonhap)
