Seoul offers North ‘flexible engagement’

South Korea President Park Geun-Hye says North Korea will be awarded with “more flexible engagement” if it takes the “path of change” and puts an end to its nuclear development.

The new president called on Pyongyang on Friday to understand that nothing would be “gained from nuclear development or provocations save for greater isolation and hardship.”

“While provocations by the North will be met by stronger counter-responses, the North’s willingness to make the right choice and walk the path of change will be answered with more flexible engagement,” Park said during a speech to mark the country’s 1919 uprising against Japan’s colonial rule.

Park, 61, was sworn in as president on February 25, only days after Pyongyang carried out its third underground nuclear test.

South Korea’s first female president also urged Pyongyang to become a “responsible member” of the international community and make efforts to “normalize inter-Korean relations.”

“Only then will the path toward shared development by South and North be opened to us and only then will the trust-building process on the Korean Peninsula begin in earnest,” Park added.

North Korea’s nuclear test drew immediate condemnation from the UN and several countries including the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan.

In response to the atomic test, US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said that North Korea should expect “increasing isolation and pressure.”

Pyongyang, however, said earlier this week that Seoul would witness “final destruction” if it supported a tougher US resolution. It also warned the US administration that its mainland was “well within” the range of its nuclear weapons.