After clearing a politically-charged quandary over the construction of a new airport earlier this week, President Park Geun-hye is now shifting her policy focus to security -- a topic that helps appeal to her conservative supporters and foster national unity.

Over the last several days Park has made a series of public statements that warned of additional North Korean provocations and called for a "watertight" readiness posture in all security realms including cyberspace.

Her security mantra was bolstered after the government on Tuesday scrapped a high-stakes plan to build a new airport in the country's northeastern region amid fears that the selection of a site for the airport would trigger a rift in the region, the ruling Saenuri Party's support base. The move, moreover, will save trillions of won of taxpayer money that would have been used to build a new airport from scratch.

The relentless spate of Pyongyang provocations has also created fresh momentum for Park's pursuit of a stronger defense. The North launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) on Wednesday, with one actually reaching an altitude exceeding 1,000 kilometers. This is viewed as the North making progress in its missile program.

"The president, as the chief executive, will move forward step by step to respond to security and economic challenges and take care of other state affairs," a Cheong Wa Dae official told Yonhap News Agency on the condition of anonymity. With Pyongyang constantly ratcheting up cross-border tensions, Park has cranked up her own rhetoric against the communist neighbor.

During a session with the National Unification Advisory Council earlier in the week, the president warned that the North would face "complete isolation" and "self-destruction" should it pursue reckless provocations.

On Thursday, Park hosted a luncheon with some 80 military leaders, directing them to "strongly retaliate" if provoked. There, she also warned that the inter-Korean standoff would not calm down any time soon, given that Pyongyang has showed no signs of giving up its nuclear program.

"We will never condone North Korea's provocations that threaten the stability and peace of the Korean Peninsula, and in close cooperation with the international community we will continue to apply strong sanctions and pressure until the North takes a path of change," the commander-in-chief said during the luncheon with top brass.

During a Cabinet meeting she chaired on Tuesday, Park even raised the possibility of the North -- with direct or indirect links to international terrorist organizations -- launching attacks on the South.

Beyond the conventional security realm, the president has also pointed to the growing security challenges in cyberspace such as hacking, personal data leaks and cyberterrorism as "seriously destabilizing factors for national security."

Amid her ramping up of the rhetoric against Pyongyang, some observers here have cautiously raised the need to start luring the North to the negotiating table over its denuclearization.

They noted that without the resumption of dialog, Pyongyang would only continue its development of its nuclear and missile capabilities, which the impoverished state would use to up the ante in future negotiations. (Yonhap)