"I direct the foreign affairs and security ministries to ensure that our government… can craft a stern response to the North's provocation… I also call for a review of our stand-alone sanctions against the North if necessary," the Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying.
Defense Minister Song Young-moo said earlier the nation would prepare independent measures to respond to Pyongyang’s alleged test of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday night.
He warned Pyongyang that its actions had called further reconciliation efforts into question. The South’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that rather than being accepted as a nuclear power North Korea would only isolate itself by continuing its illegal missiles tests.
South Korea will also station four additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) launchers at a US military base in the country’s south. China has objected to their deployment, which it regards as a threat to its defense capabilities.
