Yoon says ball is in N.K's court for resumption of talks: CNN
SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol said Monday that any resumption of dialogue between South Korea and North Korea will be up to Pyongyang, CNN reported.
Yoon made the remark during an interview with the U.S. cable news channel at the presidential office amid a prolonged stalemate in talks between both the South and the North, and between the North and the United States.
"I think the ball is in Chairman Kim's court," he said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "It is his choice to start a dialogue with us. I do not want North Korea to collapse. My hope is for North Korea to prosper alongside South Korea."
On North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Yoon said he does not believe its enhancement is "helpful and conducive to maintaining international peace and shared prosperity."
He also said that if North Korea conducts its seventh nuclear test, which has been portrayed in both Seoul and Washington as a near possibility, his government will have a different response from that of the previous Moon Jae-in administration.
"We will deal strongly and firmly with any threat or provocative act from North Korea," he said.
According to CNN, Yoon maintained that South Korea-U.S. military exercises are purely defensive, after he and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed during Saturday's summit to begin discussions on expanding them.
He also said there would be no redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula, CNN said.
On South Korea's participation in the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, an initiative seen as excluding China from global supply chains, Yoon said he did not believe it was "reasonable for China to be overly sensitive about this matter."
"Even if we strengthen our alliance with the United States in security and technology, it does not mean that we think our economic cooperation with China is unimportant," he said.
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
-
BTS' Jimin to pre-release track on his first solo album
-
Nuclear weapons use by North Korea will mean 'end of regime': Pentagon spokesperson
-
U.S. B-1B strategic bomber returns to S. Korea as N.K. fires missile
-
(LEAD) BTS' J-Hope ranks No. 60 on Billboard Hot 100 with 'on the street'
-
(URGENT) N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un calls for completing readiness for nuclear attack against enemies: KCNA
-
Defense ministry sets out to normalize military intelligence-sharing deal with Japan
-
(LEAD) S. Korea to set up world's No. 1 semiconductor cluster in Seoul metropolitan area
-
BTS' Jimin to pre-release track on his first solo album
-
(LEAD) Political divide intensifies in S. Korea over Yoon-Kishida summit
-
U.S. B-1B strategic bomber returns to S. Korea as N.K. fires missile
-
U.S. B-1B strategic bomber returns to S. Korea as N.K. fires missile
-
(4th) N. Korea fires one SRBM toward East Sea: military
-
(URGENT) N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un calls for completing readiness for nuclear attack against enemies: KCNA
-
(LEAD) N. Korea holds nuclear counterattack simulation drills; Kim urges perfect readiness: KCNA
-
N. Korea says it conducted 2-day drills simulating tactical nuclear counterattack