`We can`t live with N.Korea`s nukes over our heads`

President Park Geun-hye stressed Tuesday that North Korea`s nuclear threat cannot be overlooked, saying, "We can`t live with nuclear weapons over our heads.”

In a luncheon meeting with seven religious leaders at the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae, President Park said, “I promise that if North Korea gives up its nuclear program and comes to the right path even now, I will actively implement the Korean Peninsula trust process (initiative) to support the North.”

“The Soviet Union used to have nuclear weapons. But how did it end up after all?” she added, “Possessing nuclear weapons doesn`t resolve all problems...but only cause isolation. What country will invest in a country that threatens world peace with nuclear weapons?”

Representing South Korea’s seven major faiths including Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism and Confucianism, the religious leaders asked the president to “take the lead” in allowing the religious community to provide humanitarian aid to North Korea if the latter stops its provocations.

The president also expressed hope that the leaders "play a bigger role in helping Pyongyang make right decisions, including opening up, and take care of the lives of North Korean people.”

President Park also indirectly criticized Seoul’s political circles, saying politicians should “devote their lives to the people just as the religious leaders do.” Politicians should not gloss over the people’s issues because of political interest, she added.

egija@donga.com