SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) — South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday (February 16) pledged further “strong” measures against North Korea, after suspending operations at a jointly-run industrial park as punishment for the North’s recent long-range rocket launch and nuclear test.
The North’s recent actions and vows to conduct more “extreme acts of provocation” demonstrate that it has no interest in peace, Park said in a speech to parliament.
“The suspension of the Kaesong industrial zone is only the start of a series of actions we will be taking together with the international community,” Park said.
“The government will take strong and effective measures for the North to come to the bone-numbing realisation that nuclear development will not help its survival but rather it will only speed up the collapse of the regime,” she added.
South Korea suspended the operation of the Kaesong industrial zone last week, which had been run jointly with the North for more than a decade and was a key source of hard currency for the impoverished North, as punishment for Pyongyang’s rocket launch on Feb. 7.
South Korea and the United States said the launch was a test of a long-range missile that violated U.N. Security Council resolutions. The North said the launch was part of its scientific programme designed to launch satellites into space.
Washington and Seoul are seeking support from Beijing, Pyongyang’s main ally, for tougher sanctions against North Korea for the nuclear test and rocket launch.
South Korea is on heightened alert for any kind of “extreme actions” Pyongyang may take, Park said, asking for bipartisan support and warning against using the increased tension for political purposes, “which would be exactly what the North would want to see”.
