Roundup: S. Korea's Park urges different response to DPRK's nuke test
Xinhua, January 13, 2016 Adjust font size:
South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday urged different responses from the international community to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s fourth nuclear test, indicating the country's push for stronger sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang.
"The international community's response to DPRK's nuclear test should be different from before," Park told a national televised speech.
She said South Korea is closely cooperating with its allies to draw up effective sanctions at the bilateral, multilateral and the U.N. Security Council's levels.
Her speech came a week after the DPRK claimed last Wednesday that it had successfully tested the first hydrogen bomb.
Last Friday, South Korea restarted blaring propaganda messages from loudspeakers across the border into the DPRK in retaliation for the nuclear test.
The United States flew a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber over Osan, just 40 km south of Seoul, on Sunday in an apparent show of force.
Describing the resumed propaganda broadcasts as the most effective and powerful tool of psychological warfare, Park indicated that the continued broadcast for the time being.
She said the B-52 bomber's fly-over was an expression of the U.S. commitment to the defense of South Korea.
Park's comments lacked the words of "dialogue and cooperation" with the DPRK, which had been seen during her previous New Year's addresses, being indicative of Seoul's push for pressures and sanctions on Pyongyang.
Park said the U.N. Security Council's fresh resolution on the DPRK, currently under discussion, would include a variety of new sanctions on finance and trade, portraying it as the strong and comprehensive one that will cause a change in the DPRK's behavior.
The president said South Korea and the U.S. are closely coordinating and discussing the resolution. Enditem