South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday called to abandon any dialogue with North Korea until it makes serious steps toward denuclearization.
Tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs escalated after Pyongyang said on January 6 that it had successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test and put a satellite into orbit on February 7. The moves violated UN Security Council resolutions, and triggered the United Nations as well as the United States to impose sanctions.
"Making the offer for dialogue without any denuclearization steps is only a deceit intended to change the situation [where they are pressured under sanctions]. There can't be any compromise on the issues of security that are directly linked to the lives and safety of our citizens," Park said while addressing the newly elected parliament as quoted by Yonhap news.
Last month, Pyongyang urged Seoul to accept its offer to hold military talks and called for joint steps to carry out measures for national unity, citing the need to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula. South Korea rejected the proposal, demanding "a real turn" toward denuclearization.
South and North Korea are still formally at war, as no peace treaty was ever signed after the Korean War of 1950-1953.
