Vice Unification Minister Um Jong-sik says the government will be resolute in its pursuit of punitive measures against North Korea for its torpedoing of the “Cheonan” naval vessel.

The vice minister said at a National Unification Advisory Council meeting in Seoul on Wednesday that the South Korean government would suppress additional provocations by the North and would elicit changes in North Korean policies.

Um said that the denuclearization of North Korea is a top priority for Seoul and that progress in inter-Korean relations is impossible without a significant improvement in the North Korean nuclear issue.