South Korea’s president warns of more provocations from north

SEOUL, South Korea — President Park Geunhye of South Korea warned on Monday that there would be more provocations from North Korea after the North’s fifth nuclear test last week, adding that they could raise the danger of war on the Korean Peninsula.

Park issued the warning when she met the leaders of opposition political parties to appeal for a united front against what she called the North’s “maniacal obsession” with building a nuclear arsenal.

Park has become increasingly critical of the North since the test on Friday, when she said its leader, Kim Jong Un, was guilty of “fanatical recklessness” and that “his mental condition should be considered out of control.”

On Monday, she ruled out dialogue with the country, saying that its nuclear program was “not a bargaining chip” but a “present and urgent threat” to her country’s security. She said such discussions would only buy the North more time to perfect its nuclear weapons. China and Russia and opposition parties in South Korea called for talks with North Korea, insisting that sanctions alone could not end its nuclear ambitions.

“We are now facing a very serious security situation that is different from the past,” Park told the opposition leaders, according to a statement released by her office. “North Korea is claiming that it will carry out more provocations, and that could lead to danger of war on the Korean Peninsula or take various forms such as terrorist attacks and local provocations.”

The nuclear test Friday was the most powerful by the North to date, and the government later claimed to have tested a “standardized” warhead to be fitted on its ballistic missiles. Although that claim cannot be independently verified, the latest test fueled regional fears over a growing nuclear threat. The United States and its allies are urging the U.N. Security Council to pass stronger sanctions against the North.

Earlier Monday, the South Korean Defense Ministry said the North had the ability to conduct another nuclear test anytime at its Punggye-ri test site, where all five underground nuclear tests have occurred. South Korean officials said the site still had a couple of spare tunnels where the North could detonate a nuclear device if it wanted.

U.S. State Department’s Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim, left, talks with his South Korean counterpart Kim Hong-kyun during a meeting to exchange views on North Korea’s fifth nuclear test conducted last Friday, at the Foreign...