President Park Geun-hye warned on Wednesday that North Korea would face harsher sanctions unless it abandons its nuclear weapons programs.
  

North Korea has long been under an array of U.S. and international sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs. Still, the country has rejected repeated international calls to give up its nuclear program, viewing it as a powerful deterrent against what it claims is Washington's hostile policy against it.
  

Park also urged North Korea to quickly discard the illusion that its nuclear programs will protect its regime
  

"International sanctions on North Korea will become harsher as long as it does not give up its nuclear program, which in turn could eventually heighten the instability of the North Korean regime," Park said in a speech in Seoul.
  

She also pressed North Korea to come forward for dialogue as she vowed to step up efforts to resume talks.
  

The two Koreas last held high-level talks in February 2014.
  

Tensions persist on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's provocative actions in recent months, including the launch of a ballistic missile from a submarine. (Yonhap)