South Korea Presses For Stricter Sanctions Against North

South Korean President has said that unless ‘strong and substantive’ measures to punish North Korea, DPRK would continue additional experiments without facing the consequence.

President Park Geun-hye instructed her foreign and security policy aides to make utmost efforts to convince United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to draw powerful sanctions, Korea Herald news daily reported Tuesday.

“If strong and substantive steps are not taken again this time, the international community would send the wrong signal to North Korea that should it carry out a fifth or sixth nuclear test, (the international community) can’t do anything about it,” Park said.

“We should make diplomatic efforts, closely cooperating with the U.S. and other partners primarily, so that the UNSC will come up with strong and comprehensive sanctions.”

Her reiteration of stricter penalties against Pyongyang, following her New Year’s news conference last week, came as the UNSC is working on a draft resolution in response to the communist state’s fourth underground explosion on Jan. 6.

South Korea, the US and Japan have agreed to push for a strong and comprehensive response to North Korea‘s nuclear test, though it remains unclear whether China will join in tightening the screw on North Korea.

The roles of Beijing and Russia are crucial in particular, given their veto power at the council and decades-old diplomatic and economic patronage of Pyongyang that has long been deemed crucial for the Kim dynasty’s survival. 

“We must make sure North Korea clearly recognizes what consequences its wrong behavior will bring,” Park said.