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Park arrives in New York for UN General Assembly

September 25, 2015

President Park Geun-hye gets out of the plane and walks down the stairs. (Yonhap)

By Kim Kwang-tae

NEW YORK (Yonhap) — President Park Geun-hye arrived in New York Friday for the U.N. General Assembly designed to tackle challenges facing the world as she warned North Korea against nuclear or missile tests.

“Should the North go ahead with provocative actions that violate the U.N. Security Council resolutions, there will certainly be a price to be paid,” Park said in a written interview with Bloomberg News.

Park appears likely to mention North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programs during her speech in the U.N. General Assembly scheduled on Monday.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have flared anew after North Korea has vowed to launch a satellite, a move seen by Seoul and Washington as a cover for testing its ballistic missile technology.

There is speculation that North Korea may launch a long-range rocket in October to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party.

The North has also suggested that it may conduct a nuclear test in response to what it claims is the hostile policy of the United States and other hostile forces.

Park is set to address the U.N. summit for sustainable development on Saturday, a day after she arrives in New York, according to Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea’s presidential office.

The summit is designed to adopt the post-2015 development agenda, a follow-up to the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty, reduce child mortality and achieve universal primary education.

Park also plans to attend a luncheon meeting with her counterparts from major countries on climate change on Sunday. The meeting is designed to drum up support for a deal on cutting down greenhouse gases at the U.N. Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris later this year.

In June, South Korea offered to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent by 2030 from 850.6 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, an amount Seoul says it would reach if it lets business run as usual.

Also Sunday, Park is set to hold two separate summits with her counterparts from Pakistan and Denmark on the sidelines.

Park plans to attend a separate U.N. summit on peacekeeping operations on Monday.

entropy@yna.co.kr