S. Korea's Park seeks nuke talks except DPRK

SEOUL -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Friday that six-party talks, which exclude the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), should be sought to restart the dialogue channel to dismantle the DPRK's nuclear program.

Park made the remarks when she was briefed by the foreign, unification and defense ministries about their 2016 policy directions.

"(South Korea) should seek various and creative approaches such as attempting five-way talks that exclude DPRK as well as six-party talks," Park said.

The president said though the six-party talks were effective as a tool in the past to resolve the nuclear issue, the effectiveness is currently called into question as the talks haven't been held for long and helped little denuclearize the Korean peninsula.

The six-party talks to denuclearize the peninsula, involving South Korea, the DPRK, China, the United States, Japan and Russia, have been halted since late 2008.

Park stressed the importance of stronger sanctions against the DPRK over its claim on Jan. 6 that it had tested its first hydrogen bomb.

Park instructed the officials to make all-out diplomatic efforts to make strong and effective sanctions against the DPRK drawn up at the UN Security Council as well as bilateral and multilateral sanctions taken in addition to the UN resolution.