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South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday that he would not take a single step backward with any provocations by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Moon's comments followed Pyongyang's fifth missile test-launch since he took office about a month earlier.
The president held his first plenary session of the national security council, and said his government would not make any compromise in defending national security and people's safety.
Moon said the only thing the DPRK can earn from the provocation would be international isolation and economic difficulties, according to a press release by the presidential Blue House.
The plenary session was chaired by President Moon, and attendees included senior presidential secretaries for security affairs, the prime minister, the spy agency chief and the ministers of foreign affairs, defense and unification.
The security meeting was called after the DPRK test-fired multiple projectiles believed to be short-range ground-to-ship cruise missiles from the city of Wonsan in the east coast.
The missiles flew about 200 km into the DPRK's eastern waters.
The president maintained a position that he would sternly deal with any DPRK provocation while seeking dialogue with Pyongyang for the denuclearized Korean Peninsula Moon said his government would make unwavering efforts to completely dismantle the DPRK's nuclear program by using both sanctions and dialogue.
He urged the DPRK to immediately stop nuclear and missile provocations and come back to the road to the denuclearization for peace on the peninsula and co-prosperity.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
