South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to come to a path for change amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Park told a Cabinet meeting that if Pyongyang continues unreasonable provocations and strong confrontations with the international community while refraining from coming to a path for change, the DPRK will walk a path of destroying itself.
The president said that despite strong sanctions from the international society and South Korea, the DPRK continued its provocative remarks like a pre-emptive nuclear strike, expressed its willingness to conduct another nuclear test and continued reckless threats such as the launch of short-range missiles.
Her comments came after top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un warned of impending tests of nuclear warheads and ballistic rockets.
According to the DPRK's KCNA news agency, Kim said a nuclear warhead explosion test and a test-fire of ballistic rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads will be conducted in a short time to enhance the reliance of its nuclear attack capability.
Kim made the remarks when he guided the successful simulated test of re-entry technology needed to return a long-range missile's warhead back into atmosphere. Seoul's defense ministry said the DPRK has yet to secure such technology.
Last week, Kim said that Pyongyang has succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit on ballistic missiles while stressing the need for continued tests of nuclear explosions to improve nuclear attack capability. Seoul's defense ministry refuted the claims, saying that the DPRK has yet to secure such technology.
Such nuclear threats showed the DPRK has a strong sense of crisis toward anti-DPRK sanctions by South Korea and the international community, President Park said, emphasizing the significance of implementing the sanctions properly.
Park instructed the military to maintain defense preparedness in order to immediately retaliate against any DPRK provocations, while ordering officials to strengthen strategic communications with relevant countries such as the United States, China, Russia and Japan.
