'Kim Jong-un's mental condition is out of control'

President Park Geun-hye speaks in an emergency meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday. She convened the meeting with high-ranking security officials to discuss countermeasures following North Korea’s fifth nuclear test. / Yonhap

Park shortens trip to Laos

By Kang Seung-woo

VIENTIANE, Laos ― President Park Geun-hye condemned North Korea’s fifth nuclear test, Friday, saying it would hasten its self-destruction.

Following the test, she held a phone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama, who was aboard Air Force One returning home from Laos, to discuss ways to respond to the provocation.

Park herself returned home earlier than scheduled from Laos, where she attended international security forums along with Obama and other leaders. Laos was the last leg of Park’s week-long three-nation trip that also included Russia and China.

On her arrival, she convened an emergency meeting of top security and foreign affairs officials to discuss measures to tackle the test, and lambasted the North’s leader Kim Jong-un.

Park said, “Kim’s mental condition is out of control,” adding that the North’s provocation was a frontal challenge to the international community, and has pushed past the limits of patience of South Korea and other countries.

Park also had a phone conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, calling the test an “intolerable provocation” and agreeing to closely cooperate to come up with follow-up measures, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

Pyongyang detonated a nuclear device at its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri at around 9:30 a.m. on the occasion of its Foundation Day, estimated to be the most powerful explosion yet in its five tests.

“Today’s nuclear test is a clear violation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and a serious challenge to the international community,” Park said in a statement.

The North’s latest provocation came less than a day after the East Asia Summit (EAS) adopted a statement urging it to give up its nuclear and missile programs. It was the first time for the 18-member regional strategy forum that includes the United States, China and Japan to adopt a single-issue statement other than the chairman's statement.

“The North’s nuclear test, defying the EAS statement, proves the Kim Jong-un regime’s lunatic imprudence,” Park said. “Stronger sanctions and diplomatic isolation are what the North would only achieve through nuclear tests and they will lead to the regime’s self-destruction.”

She said that the South Korean government will cooperate with the UNSC and relevant countries on adopting additional tougher sanctions, while seeking all means to press the country into giving up its nuclear ambitions.

During the phone conversation with Obama, the two leaders agreed to closely work with each other to seek stronger ways to force the North to abandon its nuclear program, while cooperating with the international community, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

“President Obama said the United States will take all means including extended nuclear deterrence, based on the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty, for security of South Korea against North Korea’s provocations,” the presidential office said.

In the wake of the nuclear test, President Park convened an emergency meeting of accompanying security officials in Laos. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn also held a National Security Council (NSC) meeting in Seoul to discuss follow-up measures.

The NSC meeting focused on discussing the impact of the nuclear test on South Korea’s national security as well as international relations. The participants also discussed how to collaborate with the U.N., officials said.

“We acknowledge the gravity of the situation and have discussed ways to come up with prompt and strong countermeasures,” Hwang said.

Initially, President Park planned to attend an official luncheon by Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith and a Korea-Laos business forum after holding bilateral talks with the Laotian leader.

However, following the summit, she cancelled the remaining schedule to return home earlier.