President Park Geun-hye called on officials Monday to ensure the safety of South Koreans, citing North Korea's possible terror attacks against the South.

South Korea "should put in place a thorough readiness posture against another North Korean provocation," Park said in a meeting with her senior secretaries.

Tensions have spiked on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's nuclear test and long-range rocket launch in recent weeks.

Park said Kim Jong-un has ordered officials to concentrate on capabilities for terror attacks and cyberattacks on South Korea, referring to the North Korean leader.

She did not use his official title, in the latest sign of her personal distrust of the young North Korean leader who pursues nuclear and missile programs.

On Saturday, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong reaffirmed Pyongyang's "consistent stand opposing all forms of terrorism" in a condolence message to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu over a recent deadly bomb attack in Turkey.

Still, it remains unclear why there is an apparent sign of discrepancy in North Korea over terrorism.

South Korean police have recently said that North Korean hackers sent massive amounts of spam emails to South Korean public organizations last month in an apparent bid to launch cyberattacks against the South.

North Korea has a track record of staging terror attacks against South Korea in the past few decades, including the 1987 midair bombing of a Korean Air flight that killed all 115 people aboard.

Park also called for efforts to revitalize South Korea's economy, saying that heightened tensions over North Korea's nuclear test and long-range rocket launch could put a burden on the economy during this difficult time.

South Korea's exports dropped 18.8 percent in January from a year earlier, the largest on-year drop in 6 1/2 years, extending their losing streak to 13 months. (Yonhap)