SEOUL: South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Monday urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapon programme and defended the deployment of a US anti-missile system in the face of repeated “provocations” by Pyongyang.
Tensions have been running high on the divided Korean peninsula ever since the North carried out its fourth nuclear test in January, and are expected to spike again when the South launches an annual joint military exercise with the United States later this month.
“I urge the North Korean government to immediately stop all provocations and threats targeting South Korea as well as the development of weapons of mass destruction,” Park said.
Her comments came as both Koreas celebrated the anniversary of the liberation of the peninsula from Japanese colonial rule in 1945.
Stressing that “true liberation” would involve reunification of the divided Korean peninsula, Park said that could only happen by removing the fear of nuclear weapons, missiles and war.
