MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The statement came 100 days after the ministry announced that it was suspending operations at the Kaesong industrial complex, run jointly by North and South Korea, in response to Pyongyang’s recent nuclear bomb test and satellite launch.
"We urge North Korea to suspend its nuclear and missile provocations and show its sincere commitment toward denuclearization," ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told a briefing, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.
Tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs escalated after Pyongyang said on January 6 that it had successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test and put a satellite into orbit on February 7, violating UN Security Council resolutions and triggering condemnation from the international community in both cases.