Seoul praises Trump's resolve on North Korea

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL

U.S. President Donald Trump was expressing "a firm and specific stance" on North Korea when he threatened to destroy the reclusive country, according to a statement released by South Korea's presidential office on Wednesday.

"We believe [he] expressed a firm and specific stance regarding the important issue of maintaining peace and security now facing the international community and the United Nations," spokesman Park Soo-hyun said, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

He added: "His remarks today regarding North Korea reaffirmed the need to put maximum sanctions and pressure against North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations to make North Korea realize that denuclearization is its only option to ensure its future."

President Moon Jae-in has previously stressed the South's desire for peace and reconciliation on the peninsula.

The statement from his office was published shortly after Trump escalated his rhetoric against the North while addressing the UN General Assembly in New York.

"The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea," Trump said.

In the wake of repeated North Korean missile launches and a sixth nuclear test, Trump also referred to leader Kim Jong-un as a "rocket man on a suicide mission."

While the U.S. president hoped that a military attack would not be necessary as the UN aimed to halt Pyongyang's nuclear weapon development through economic sanctions, Kim's regime is likely to be riled by the threat and lack of respect.