S. Korea's Park urges DPRK to abandon policy line of simultaneous nuke, economic development

South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to abandon its "infeasible" policy line of simultaneous development of nuclear program and economy and push ahead with the policy of opening and reform.

"Now, North Korea (DPRK) should come to the path of a genuine development through opening and reform by staying away from the infeasible line of simultaneous nuclear and economic development," Park said during her keynote speech at the Seoul Defense Dialogue that opened here Wednesday.

It marked the first time that a top South Korean leader attended the vice ministerial-level regional security forum that was launched in 2012.

The three-day event has drawn about 250 defense officials and private security experts from 30 nations including China, the United States and Japan, and four international agencies such as the United Nations and the European Union.

Discussions will be held in three sessions on the unification of the Korean Peninsula and global security, analysis and management of maritime crisis in East Asia, and cyber security and defense cooperation, respectively, according to the S.Korean defense ministry.

Park said that peaceful reunification of the two Koreas would be very important for world peace and harmony.

The reunified peninsula would serve as the fundamental solution to nuclear and human rights issues in the DPRK and as the end to the 20th century's Cold War, Park said.

The South Korean government has consistently pushed for its policy of trust-building process on the peninsula to fundamentally resolve security issues of the peninsula as well as the DPRK's nuclear ambition issue, Park noted.

Regarding East Asian situations, Park said that close exchanges and cooperation have been going on in terms of economy in the region, but she noted that security cooperation mechanism to establish peace and stability hasn't taken place yet. Endi