President Park Geun-hye on Monday called on the military to prepare practical measures against North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities, and to maintain readiness so that any attempt or provocation can lead to the collapse of the communist regime.

“The government and the military should maintain a firm posture to retaliate so as to make sure that any provocation may lead to the self-destruction of the North Korea regime,” Park said at a meeting with senior secretaries.

Such posture, according to the president, includes a stronger military alliance with the US, including the planned deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense in the southern part of the peninsula.

Pyongyang’s latest provocation was its test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile last Wednesday, which Park described as a “tangible threat to national security” that has now gone beyond simply being a source of concern.

“North Korea will never give up efforts to downsize its nuclear weapons,” the president said. “Should it succeed in mounting a nuclear (weapon) on a ballistic missile, the survival of our nation and our people will be at risk.”

Underlining national security, she alluded that the opposition circles and local communities should withdraw their protest over the installment of the US anti-missile defense system.

“It is in times like these that we should all unite and join forces in defending our country,” Park said.

On the same day, the Defense Ministry said that it had selected three candidate sites within Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, for the THAAD deployment, taking a step forward in the feud-ridden agenda.

In a move to add pressure on the communist neighbor, the president also cited the North Korean Human Rights Act, which is to take effect from Sept. 4.

“North Korean human rights is an urgent humanitarian issue, as well as the founding stone for a peaceful peninsular unification,” Park said, urging related organizations to give wider publicity to human rights within the reclusive state.

The president’s remarks came just days before she was set to depart for Russia on a three-nation tour encompassing China and Laos. On the sidelines of consolidating diplomatic and economic ties with each state, Park is expected to call for regional cooperation in pressing North Korea into abiding by the UN Security Council resolution on denuclearization.
 
By Bae Hyun-jung(tellme@heraldcorp.com)