2017 ‘critical’ on North Korea front: South Korean PM

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - South Korea is poised to do all it can to “induce denuclearization” in North Korea this year, according to Seoul’s chief policymakers Wednesday.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn described 2017 as “a critical period that could become an inflexion point in North Korea's nuclear problem”.

Also acting as president due to Park Geun-hye’s impeachment last month, Hwang received a series of briefings following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s New Year’s address -- in which he claimed his reclusive state is in the final stages of preparations to test an intercontinental ballistic missile.

If that proves to be the case, it would set this year up in much the same fashion as 2016, which saw the North carry out an unprecedented pair of nuclear tests and dozens of rocket and missile launches.

Hwang highlighted the need to bring about “concrete outcomes” through sanctions and pressure, according to local news agency Yonhap.

That message echoed a report from the foreign ministry vowing to “choke off the money flow into the North” amid South Korea’s most serious post-Cold War security situation.

In the event Seoul has to consider military options, Defense Minister Han Min-koo apparently told Hwang the South is ready earlier than expected to establish a special unit targeting North Korea’s wartime command structure.

But given the possibility of a left-leaning administration replacing the Park government in the coming months, South Korea’s attitude could change dramatically.

The North enjoyed massive financial benefits and cooperation during the “sunshine policy” era when Seoul’s last liberal presidents were in office for a decade from 1998.

All inter-Korean communication has since broken down on the back of Pyongyang’s refusal to comply with multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.