Anchor: President Park Geun-hye said South Korea's doors will remain open for dialogue with the North although it will stand firm against provocations. She said the two Koreas must deal with pending issues such as the lifting of sanctions through responsible and sincere dialogue at high-level talks. Our Kim In-kyung has more.
 
Report: Responding to mixed signals by North Korea recently, President Park Geun-hye said it would be dangerous to change the environment of South-North relations with rash judgment.
 
At the second meeting of the Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation held on Monday, President Park said South Korea's doors will remain open to dialogue although it will stand firm against provocations.
 
The comments came after South and North Korean navy patrol boats exchanged fire last week, following a surprise visit to the South by top North Korean officials. On Friday, North Korea also fired anti-aircraft machine guns at balloons launched by South Korean civic groups carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets over the inter-Korean border.
 
She said there's a saying that dialogue is necessary even during war and likewise, dialogue must continue between the two sides to ease tension and bring peace to the Korean peninsula. 
 
She said high-level talks must be used as an opportunity to improve inter-Korean relations and that lifting sanctions against the North must be resolved through responsible and sincere dialogue.
 
She also said to achieve sincere unification, the government must sternly respond to moves aimed at using inter-Korean relations for political means.
 
She called on the committee to draft concrete measures to achieve unification, including ways to encourage the North to participate in the construction of a peace park at the demilitarized zone.
 
At the same time, Park said the South must increase humanitarian and human rights support for the North to raise the quality of its citizens' lives. 
Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.