Park to preside over Cabinet meeting amid national emergency drills

President Park Geun-hye will preside over a Cabinet meeting on Monday, during which she is expected to call for a robust readiness posture to cope with continuing North Korean military threats, her office Cheong Wa Dae said.

The meeting is timed to coincide with the start of the four-day Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercise aimed at better coping with national emergency situations.

Observers say Park is likely to mention the planned deployment of an advanced U.S. antimissile system to South Korea, which she has repeatedly defended as an "inevitable, self-defense" measure to better counter Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats.

The chief executive could also touch on the latest defection of a senior North Korean diplomat, which hinted that the loyalty of North Korean elites toward their leader Kim Jong-un has been eroding amid crippling international sanctions on the isolated country. (Yonhap)