South Korea military set to 'respond strongly' to North

South Korean President Park Geun-hye told her military on Monday to set aside political considerations and "respond strongly" should North Korea attack the peninsula.

"In this crisis of security, our military's role is very important in securing the Republic of Korea's sovereign power and security," Park said at a meeting in the South Korean defence ministry, where government officials and military personnel saluted the South Korean national anthem.

"As commander-in-chief of the armed forces, I will trust the military's judgment on abrupt and surprise provocations by North Korea," she added.

North Korea warned Seoul on Saturday that the Korean Peninsula had entered "a state of war" and threatened to shut down the border factory complex that is the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on Sunday. (KCNA/Reuters)

"We should also monitor the safety of our people in the Kaesong Industrial District," Park said.

The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war, divided by a heavily guarded border and with both governments prohibiting direct contact with citizens on the other side.

However, for nearly a decade, the main use of the military hotline was to arrange passage for South Korean managers who work at the joint industrial complex in the North through the Demilitarised Zone.

The new South Korean president is pursuing a policy that seeks to re-engage North Korea with dialogue and aid after five years of standoff.

North Korea is angry about the South Korea-US military drills and new UN sanctions over its nuclear test last month.

Park described the threats as "very serious" at the defence meeting on Monday.

North Korea's threats are seen as efforts to provoke the government in Seoul to change its policies toward Pyongyang, and to win diplomatic talks with Washington that could get it more aid.

North Korea's moves are also seen as ways to build domestic unity as young leader Kim Jong Un strengthens his military credentials.

Using North Korea's cheap, efficient labour, the Kaesong complex produced $470 million US worth of goods last year.

North holds parliamentary session

In a separate development on Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gathered legislators for an annual spring parliamentary session that followed a ruling party declaration that nuclear bomb building and a stronger economy were the nation's top priorities.

The meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly follows near-daily threats from Pyongyang for weeks, including vows of nuclear strikes on South Korea and the U.S.

The United States, meanwhile, sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to participate in annual war games with South Korea, and the new South Korean president, who has a policy meant to re-engage Pyongyang with talks and aid, told her top military leaders to set aside political considerations and respond strongly should North Korea attack.

Despite the continuing hostility on the peninsula, there has been a noticeable shift in North Korea's rhetoric to a message that seeks to balance efforts to turn around a moribund economy with nuclear development.

"There was a danger that this was getting to the point … of a permanent war footing," said John Delury, a North Korea analyst at Seoul's Yonsei University. "In the midst of this tension and militant rhetoric and posturing, Kim Jong-un is saying, Look, we're still focused on the economy, but we're doing it with our nuclear deterrent intact."

Pyongyang has reacted with anger over routine U.S.-South Korean military drills and a new round of UN and U.S. sanctions that followed its Feb. 12 underground nuclear test, the country's third.

Analysts see a full-scale North Korean attack as unlikely and say the threats are more likely efforts to provoke softer policies toward Pyongyang from a new government in Seoul, to win diplomatic talks with Washington and to solidify the young North Korean leader's military credentials at home.

Nuclear weapons 'the nation's life'

On Sunday, Kim and top party officials adopted a declaration calling nuclear weapons the "the nation's life" and an important component of its defence, an asset that wouldn't be traded even for "billions of dollars." Pyongyang cites the U.S. military presence in South Korea as a main reason behind its drive to build missiles and atomic weapons. The U.S. has stationed tens of thousands of troops in South Korea since the Korean War ended in a truce in 1953.

While analysts call North Korea's threats largely brinkmanship, there is some fear that a localized skirmish might escalate. Seoul has vowed to respond harshly should North Korea provoke its military. Naval skirmishes in disputed Yellow Sea waters off the Korean coast have led to bloody battles several times over the years. Attacks blamed on Pyongyang in 2010 killed 50 South Koreans.

Parliament sessions, which usually are held to approve personnel changes and budget and fiscal plans, are scrutinized by the outside world for signs of key changes in policy and leadership.

Prime minister appointed

During this session, Pak Pong Ju, who is seen as an economic reformer, was appointed as the country's new prime minister.

At a session last April, Kim was made first chairman of the powerful National Defence Commission, the body's top post.

On Sunday, Kim presided over a separate plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party, a top decision-making body tasked with organizing and guiding the party's major projects. The meeting set a "new strategic line" calling for building both a stronger economy and nuclear arsenal.

North Korea's "nuclear armed forces represent the nation's life, which can never be abandoned as long as the imperialists and nuclear threats exist on Earth," according to a statement issued by state media after the meeting.

Sunday marked the first time for Kim to preside over the committee meeting. The last plenary session was held in 2010, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry, and before that in 1993.

Economy a focus for Kim

The plenary statement also called for strengthening the economy, which Kim has put an emphasis on in his public statements since taking power. The UN says two-thirds of the country's 24 million people face regular food shortages.

The decision means North Korea believes it can rebuild the economy while not neglecting its military because it now has nuclear and long-range missile capabilities, said analyst Cheong Seong-jang at South Korea's Sejong Institute. "It's like chasing two hares at once," he said.

The North also named Prime Minister Pak as a member of the party central committee's powerful Political Bureau. Pak reportedly was sacked as premier in 2007 after proposing a wage system seen as too similar to U.S.-style capitalism.

"Pak Pong-ju is the face of economic reform, such as it exists — reform with North Korean characteristics as they say," Delury said.

Economic changes won't be radical, Delury said, and, for the time being, they're mostly aspirational. One change could entail a shift of part of the country's massive military spending into the economy as a whole.

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