South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a fresh warning to North Korea on Monday, urging Pyongyang to halt its nuclear program if it wants to avoid regime instability.
“North Korean authorities are wasting scarce financial resources on the development of nuclear and missile capabilities,” Yoon said in a written interview with the Associated Press. “Consequently, the hardships faced by North Koreans in their everyday lives are worsening, and its economy continues to register negative growth.
“Amid such circumstances, unless North Korea stops its nuclear development, the regime’s instability will continue to increase.”
The South Korean leader on Monday also pressed China to take “constructive efforts to denuclearise North Korea.” He added that Beijing must realise Pyongyang’s nuclear provocations pose “a negative effect on China’s national interests by further disrupting regional order, among other things.”