South Korea’s Ministry of Unification (MOU) on Wednesday said that the government will continue to seek dialogue with North Korea, in response to comments by the country’s defense minister suggesting that “punishment” was now Seoul’s priority.

Song Yong-moo told a parliamentary meeting on Monday that top officials had agreed to focus on military responses to, rather than dialogue with, North Korea.

The decision was reportedly made at a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) on Sunday hours after the country’s sixth nuclear test.

“Although there may be some differences in emphasis among ministries, there is no difference in the