President Park Geun-hye on Monday called for airtight defense readiness and “dominant” deterrence against North Korea as the communist neighbor ramped up its threats.

In a message to the military, she cheered the soldiers for having maintained “airtight” readiness since Pyongyang’s new nuclear and missile tests early this year, which would make the North “afraid.”

“We’re under a graver security situation than ever, but the crisis can become a fresh opportunity depending on how we respond. Now we should put an end to North Korea’s reckless provocations and threats of a war and move forward to open the era of unification on the Korean Peninsula,” Park said.

“To complete this historic task, a strong military is essential, armed with airtight military readiness and dominant deterrence.” 

Pyongyang has ratcheted up threats to attack the presidential palace and other key major government facilities in Seoul over the past week, chiefly in protest against the ongoing joint military exercises by South Korea and the U.S. Their simulation scenarios include a strike on Pyongyang’s leadership and nuclear and missile sites, military officials say.

To better assess the cross-border situation and ensure solid defense posture, Cheong Wa Dae has increased the frequency of National Security Council meetings, its spokesperson Jeong Yeon-kuk told reporters. After the North issued fresh threats Sunday, the presidential council gathered later in the day, presided over by National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin.

Defense Minister Han Min-koo, for his part, visited on Monday a counter-artillery unit operating domestically built, next-generation multiple launch rocket systems, named “Chunmoo,” urging the troops to “sternly and strongly” respond to any future provocations from across the border.

His trip is apparently intended to send a warning to the North, which said last week that it has conducted the final test of a large-caliber MLRS ahead of deployment.

The recently stationed Chunmoo has a range of up to 80 kilometers, more than twice that of the previous “Guryong.” Its precision strike force can burn to the ground an area as large as three football fields combined all at once, out of the range of North Korean long-range artillery weapons, according to the Army.

North Korea has made similar threats aiming at South Korea’s presidential office in the recent past, with the latest string of assaults by various organizations in the North indicating there could be internal competition to boast their allegiance to the regime’s leader.

“The various units within the system seem to be competing to show their loyalty to Kim Jong-un,” said Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee on Monday.

Likening the recent threats to those made upon North Korea’s third nuclear test in February 2013, Jeong noted that the degree of the assaults appear to have escalated.

“(The threats) will eventually boomerang on them. They should know that these actions are ultimately revealing the true nature of its state and leadership.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)