hankyoreh

the third anniversary of the sinking. (Blue House photo pool) 　

By Cho hye-jeong, staff reporter

On Mar. 26, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said, “The only way for North Korea to survive is to voluntarily lay down its nuclear weapons, its missiles, its threats and provocations and become a responsible member of the international community.”

Park spoke at a morning memorial service held at the Daejeon National Cemetery on the third anniversary of the sinking of the Cheonan warship. “We earnestly ask North Korea to change,” she said. “They must hurry to disabuse themselves of the notion that nuclear weapons will preserve their regime.”

“North Korea must immediately cease these provocations, which burden the young generation of Koreans with a vicious cycle of sacrifice and confrontation. It must instead choose to open a virtuous cycle of peace and prosperity for the Korean peninsula.”

Park also repeatedly issued warnings. “Concentrating the country’s resources on developing nuclear weapons to preserve the regime while its people are struggling to keep food on the table will only lead to North Korea’s international isolation.”

“The strongest thing that can protect a country is the people’s clear awareness of security and unity. As I see it, when the security of the nation is at stake, the differences separating us disappear, and the gap between liberals and conservatives is bridged,” she added.“

Before the memorial service, Park first talked with about 60 of the sailors’ bereaved family members and then placed flowers on the graves. As the names of the 46 sailors who died during the sinking of the Cheonan were read one by one in a video that played during the memorial service, Park’s eyes welled with tears.

In a command letter issued to his subordinate units on the same day, Minister of Defense Kim Kwan-jin said, ”Only our firm posture of readiness and our clear preparedness to retaliate can deter enemy provocations. Let us remember the spirit of sacrifice of the brave sailors on the Cheonan and adopt an even firmer posture to defend the nation.“

”When I think of the heroes on the Cheonan who died beneath the cold ocean waves, even now I think my heart is going to break,“ he added. ”The sinking of the Cheonan reminded us that nothing has changed about North Korea’s bellicosity and its ambition to spread communism to South Korea.“

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