DPRK has nothing to gain from nuclear threats: S.Korean Defense Minister

South Korean Defense Minister said Monday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) had nothing to gain from its missile and nuclear threats, Yonhap News Agency reported.

"North Korea (DPRK) should recognize that it has nothing to gain from any provocations, including nuclear and missiles threats, " Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said in a forum held in central Seoul.

Kim noted that the DPRK's missiles and nuclear weapons became a factor to seriously threaten the world peace and the Asia- Pacific region beyond the Korean Peninsula, vowing to break the vicious circle of "provocations and reward" to Pyongyang by maintaining strong deterrence and principle-based DPRK policy.

The minister added that Seoul will pursue peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula by establishing new inter-Korean relationship based on trust and cooperating with the international community.

The defense ministry said in a report last week that Pyongyang had made headway in its capability to weaponize nuclear program, warning that it developed into a real threat now that can actually be weaponized and used at any time.

In late August, South Korean President Park Geun-hye urged the PDRK to give up its nuclear weapons program, denouncing that Pyongyang was still adhering to the nuclear weapons development despite oppositions from international communities in unison.

The DPRK said in March that it would restart operations at the Yongbyon nuclear complex by refurbishing and re-operating the five- megawatt graphite moderated reactor that had been mothballed and disabled since October 2007 under an agreement reached at the six- party talks.

Pyongyang test-fired a long-range rocket last December and conducted its third nuclear test in February, escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The actions caused additional sanctions by the U.N. Security Council against the DPRK.

The DPRK has shown its intention to rejoin the six-party talks, a multilateral negotiating body to dismantle the DPRK's nuclear program, but it had yet to make clear its willingness to give up its nuclear weapons program.

The six-way dialogue, including the two Koreas, China, the U.S., Russia and Japan, has been stalled since late 2008.

Daniel Russel, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made a three-day visit to Seoul last week, urging Pyongyang to keep its past commitments to dismantle its nuclear program.