South Korea Urges North Korea to Give up Nukes

South Korea on Wednesday urged North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program and stop reckless provocations as the two Koreas marked the 16th anniversary of their first summit meeting.

    A summit between then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the late father of the current leader Kim Jong-un, was held in Pyongyang on June 15, 2000. It produced a landmark joint declaration that outlines inter-Korean reconciliation and economic cooperation.

    Seoul's unification ministry said that North Korea is sticking to its nuclear weapons program and is persistently engaged in provocations despite South Korea's efforts for reconciliation. "The North's acts hurt the spirit of cross-border agreements. It should stop its threat of reckless provocations and abandon nuclear weapons for better ties between the two sides that can lead towards peaceful unification," the deputy spokesperson for the ministry, Park Soo-jin said in a regular press briefing. 

    North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range rocket in the following month that caused the UN Security Council to slap tougher sanctions against the reclusive country.

Source ; QNA