Park says S. Korea, U.S. won't tolerate N. Korean provocations

By Chang Jae-soon WASHINGTON, May 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday she and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed never to tolerate North Korean threats and provocations, stressing that such bad behavior will only deepen Pyongyang's own isolation. Park made the remarks during a joint news conference after her first summit talks with Obama since taking office in February. The meeting came as the North has shown signs of softening its war rhetoric after threatening nuclear attacks against the South and the U.S. for weeks. "The president and I reaffirmed that we will by no means tolerate North Korea's threats and provocations ... and that such actions would only deepen North Korea's isolation," Park said. "The president and I noted that it is important that we continue to strengthen our deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and conventional weapons threats." Park said she wants to send a clear message to the North that it "will not be able to survive if it only clings to developing its nuclear weapons at the expense of its people's happiness. Concurrently pursuing nuclear arsenals and economic development can by no means succeed." South Korean President Park Geun-hye (L) talks with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on May 7. (Yonhap) Still, Park said South Korea and other members of the international community are willing to provide assistance to the North if the communist nation chooses the path to becoming a responsible member of the community. She said that Seoul and Washington will work jointly to encourage North Korea to make the right choice through multifaceted efforts, including the implementation of her "Korean Peninsula trust process." Obama said South Korea and the United States are "as united as ever" over North Korea. "If Pyongyang thought its recent threats would drive a wedge between South Korea and the United States or somehow garner the north international respect, today is further evidence that North Korea has failed again," Obama said. "The United States and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) are as united as ever, and faced with new international sanctions, North Korea is more isolated than ever. In short, the days when North Korea could create a crisis and elicit concessions, those days are over." The White House summit drew intense media and public attention as it could set the tone for relations between the two countries for years to come. Park took over as South Korea's first female president as tensions were running high after the North successfully carried out a long-range rocket launch in December and conducted its third nuclear test earlier in February. Since early March, Pyongyang dramatically ratcheted up the already-high tensions with near-daily threats of war and nuclear attacks on the South and the U.S. in anger over a new U.N. sanctions resolution for its nuclear test and over American-involved joint military exercises in the South. But in recent weeks, Pyongyang has toned down its rhetoric and begun talking about the possibility of dialogue -- at least with the U.S. That fits the North's pattern of behavior of saber rattling before returning to negotiations for economic and other concessions. Park and Obama agreed to break the "vicious cycle" of rewarding the North's bad behavior. "We're not going to reward provocative behavior," Obama said. "But we remain open to the prospect of North Korea taking a peaceful path of denuclearization, abiding by international commitments, rejoining the international community and seeing a gradual progression in which both security and prosperity for the people of North Korea can be achieved." Obama stressed, however, that such a brighter future is possible only when Pyongyang changes its behavior and there have been actions "on the part of the North Koreans that would indicate they're prepared to move in a different direction." Park also pledged to make North Korea "pay" a price for provocations and bad behavior. "If they engage in military provocation and harm the lives of our people and the safety of our people, then naturally, as president who gives the top priority to ensuring the safety of our people, it is something that we cannot just pass over," she said. Park said she will "fully trust the judgment of our military" in case of North Korean attacks. "So if our military makes a judgment which they feel is the right thing, that they should act accordingly. And this is the instruction that I had made," she said. During Tuesday's summit, the two countries also adopted a joint declaration that commemorates the 60th anniversary of the alliance between the two countries and charts a new course for a relationship forged in blood during the 1950-53 Korean War. The declaration reconfirmed the robust U.S. security commitment to South Korea's defense and calls for bolstering economic cooperation and working closely together with North Korea for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. "Building on the past sixty years of stability on the Korean Peninsula, we continue to strengthen and adapt our Alliance to serve as a linchpin of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and to meet the security challenges of the 21st century," the declaration said. "The United States remains firmly committed to the defense of the Republic of Korea, including through extended deterrence and the full range of U.S. military capabilities, both conventional and nuclear," it said. The declaration said that the two allies will continue to try to "bring North Korea into compliance with its international obligations and promote peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, including through the trust-building process initiated by President Park." The trust process is Park's trademark policy on North Korea. It is a two-track approach of pressure and flexibility toward Pyongyang, under which Park has pledged strong retaliation against any provocations while at the same time calling for dialogue and exchanges to foster trust and reduce tensions. How much Obama will embrace the approach has been a focus of attention. During Tuesday's press conference, Obama said the policy "is very compatible with my approach and the approach that we have been taking together for several years now." Also discussed at the summit was Park's vision for peace in Northeast Asia. Dubbed the "Northeast Asia peace and cooperation initiative," the plan calls for Asian nations to enhance cooperation, first on nonpolitical issues such as climate change and counterterrorism, before expanding the trust that was built through such cooperation to other areas. It is a broader version of Park's "Korean Peninsula trust process." Park and Obama also discussed ways to increase cooperation on such global issues as climate change, development and Middle Eastern issues. Other issues on the table included ways to lay the groundwork for greater cooperation on creating future growth engines and ease the way for greater people-to-people and economic exchanges, such as increasing the quota of U.S. visas for South Korean professionals. Park arrived in Washington on Monday from New York, where she met with South Korean-born U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. On Wednesday, she is scheduled to make a speech before a joint session of Congress. On the way home, Park plans to make a stop in Los Angeles on Wednesday. jschang@yna.co.kr (END)