Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-07 15:23:31|Editor: xuxin

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SEOUL, June 7 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Foreign Minister nominee Kang Kyung-wha said Wednesday that she will take a dual approach of sanctions and dialogue towards the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) if she takes office.

Kang made the remarks in the parliamentary confirmation hearing for her nomination as the country's first female foreign minister. The top diplomat post does not require a parliamentary approval, though the nominee is needed to go through the hearing.

She said in her opening remarks that the DPRK's nuclear program is an issue directly relevant to survival of South Korean people, upon which top priority should be placed for the peaceful Korean Peninsula.

While sternly dealing with the DPRK's further provocations, South Korea would actively participate in international cooperation through UN Security Council resolutions to block Pyongyang from advancing its nuclear and missile capability and deterring further provocations, Kang said.

The top South Korean diplomat nominee, however, said sanctions and pressure toward Pyongyang should not be the ends themselves but the means to denuclearize the DPRK, vowing to make concerted efforts to resume talks with the DPRK for the denuclearization.

Asked about the resumption of the closed-down inter-Korean factory park, Kang said discussions will be required with UN Security Council member countries when actively considering the resumption.

She proposed two conditions for the active consideration, including the progress in denuclearization and changes in the atmosphere of the international community toward the DPRK.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong, just north of the inter-Korean land border, was shut down by the previous South Korean government following Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January last year. At the time, it was the last remaining inter-Korean economic cooperation project.

Kang said the resumed operation of the Kaesong factory park could become the first step toward an inter-Korean economic cooperation by easing tensions and building trust between the two sides, though she noted that the situations have got different from the time when it was first launched.

Touching on the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system, Kang said she would consider sending senior-level delegates to China.

Kang told the confirmation hearing that communications between South Korea and China should be maintained through a variety of channels to narrow differences in how to recognize the THAAD issue.

Since President Moon Jae-in took office on May 10, Kang said, the special envoys of South Korea were dispatched to China, while leaders of the two countries held a telephone conversation.

The FM nominee said the THAAD deployment lacked public discussions and failed to win the public consensus, reiterating the new government's stance that the THAAD installation requires parliamentary discussions.

In her earlier opening remarks, Kang pledged to develop the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership with China by restoring trust and strengthening sincere communications between the two countries.