SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) — Seoul will not shut the door to dialogue with North Korea, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Tuesday (March 1), but warned that Pyongyang, facing new U.N. sanctions, would be subject to even greater pressure as long as it stuck to its nuclear programme.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote soon on a resolution drafted by the United States and backed by China, the North’s main ally, aimed at punishing Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.
“Our government will not shut the door on dialogue, but as long as the North doesn’t show the will to denuclearise and refuses to change, pressure from us and the international community will continue,” Park said during an official ceremony to mark Independence Movement Day in Seoul.
The anticipated adoption of new tough sanctions by the Security Council shows there is broad international support to stop the North’s nuclear programme, Park said.
Park did not make a proposal for fresh dialogue with the North, which last took place in August last year, when the two sides agreed to make efforts to improve ties.
In February, in a shift from her earlier focus on dialogue to engage the North, Park vowed tough action and suspended operations at a jointly run industrial park as punishment for the North’s recent moves.
The North conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range rocket in February, which the Security Council condemned as a violation of existing resolutions that ban the isolated state from using ballistic missile technology.
The proposed new resolution would require U.N. member states to inspect for illicit goods all cargo passing through their territory on its way to, or from, North Korea.
During the ceremony, Park also urged Japan to carry out the agreement on former comfort women in last December.
In late 2015, South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement to resolve the issue of “comfort women” in Seoul, an issue that has long plagued ties between South Korea and Japan.
“The Japanese government should not forget mistake in its history and faithfully implement the spirit and purpose of the agreement as well as putting efforts, so that it can be remembered as the lessons for future generations,” Park added at speech.
This year commemorates the 97th year of the declaration of the nation’s independence from Japanese colonisation on March 1, 1919.
Elsewhere in the capital, more than five hundred people attended an event where South Korean activists re-enacted the independence movement against Japanese rule. During the event, students wearing Korean traditional clothes were seen waving South Korean national flags and marching.
“We are holding this big event so as to let people in our country inherit and keep alive the spirit of the Independence Movement Day as well as our ancestors. And it was very worthwhile to participate in the event with young students, citizens and volunteers,” a 62-year-old event organiser, Lee Dong-kyu, said.
Both China and Korea suffered under Japanese rule, with parts of China occupied in the 1930s and Korea colonised from 1910 to 1945. Japanese leaders have apologised in the past but many in China and South Korea doubt the sincerity of the apologies, partly because of contradictory remarks by politicians.
