When it comes to the world's security threats, North Korea's nuclear weapons development programme is a priority concern and no nation can be at peace under the fear of nuclear attack, especially South Korea.
As a result, Seoul has recently come out to demand the international community pay more attention to the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and help put pressure on North Korea to resume Six Party Talks about denuclearisation.
The Journalists Association of Korea (JAK) invited 83 foreign journalists from 53 countries to attend the World Journalists Forum 2017 from April 2-8 under the theme of "The Role of Media for World Peace".
"For Pyongyang, denuclearisation is no longer on the dialogue table. The question for us now is how we can make North Korea discuss nuclear weapons as a priority issue," Second Vice Foreign Minister Ahn Chong-ghee told foreign journalists at the opening of the forum at the JAK.
The Six Party Talks were launched in 2003 to deal with North Korea's nuclear programme. The main goal of the talks was to get North Korea to disarm and fully end its nuclear arms development programme. The countries participating in these talks include China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Russia and the United States.
In 2005, a milestone was made when North Korea agreed to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But although there have already been several rounds of talks since 2003, they have so far failed to make progress because of North Korea's frequent missile tests and threats.
Although North Korea was included in the original talks, the state walked out of the 2009 negotiations and it was discovered a year later by the United States that North Korea had been hiding a new uranium enrichment facility.
Mr Ahn said the problem of the North Korean nuclear challenge is South Korea's paramount national security concern.
He said no country can be peaceful under the fear of nuclear attack. For a densely populated country like South Korea, the potential havoc is unspeakable.
The threat is not any less real for countries that neighbour North Korea. And as the reach of North Korea's ballistic missiles increases, so too does the threat it poses to the rest of the world, he said.
"Hence, North Korea's actions are not simply an imminent threat to South Korea or this region. They present a very real danger to the entire globe," said Mr Ahn.
To make matters worse, North Korea has recently been stepping up its nuclear development at a deeply troubling pace. He said just last year alone it conducted two nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile launches. This year has already seen three separate rounds of missile tests.
A sixth nuclear test might also be in the offing. With every launch and every test, North Korea comes ever closer to mastering the technology to wreak mass destruction, he noted.
The world has seen that North Korea will not confine itself to mere bluster. VX nerve agent -- an extremely lethal chemical weapon -- was found to have been used to assassinate the brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in broad daylight in Malaysia. The incident is a glaring reminder of the utter recklessness of the young leader, Mr Ahn said.
The coupling of such recklessness with weapons of mass destruction would be a recipe for catastrophic disaster. It is precisely for this reason that North Korea now tops the list of global security concerns for the world.
Mr Ahn said for more than 20 years various efforts were made to come up with mutually agreed solutions. Some negotiated outcomes -- the Agreed Framework of 1994, the September 19 Joint Statement in 2005, and the Leap Day deal in 2012 -- all failed because of North Korea's deception and reneging.
If anything, those years have seen North Korea come closer and closer to acquiring a more advanced nuclear capability, he said.
"If the past is any guide, dialogue for the sake of dialogue brings us nowhere. So we have set the bar for dialogue much higher now. That is, dialogue must be genuine and its priority agenda must be about denuclearisation, above anything else," Mr Ahn said.
"However, ever since the young leader took power, North Korea has been refusing to even talk about denuclearisation. Its status as a so-called nuclear weapons state is declared and enshrined in its constitution."
Last year North Korea amended its Party Charter to permanently pursue Byungjin policy, which is the parallel development of the economy and nuclear weapons. This year its young leader started the new year by threatening to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile. And it continues with bellicose rhetoric for further provocations, he said.
The guided ballistic missile has a minimum range of 5,500 kilometres primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads).
Since North Korea detonated its first nuclear device in 2006, the United Nations Security Council has adopted six resolutions. The latest two resolutions (Resolutions 2270 and 2321), adopted last year in response to North Korea's fourth and fifth nuclear tests, represent the strongest-ever sanctions by the Security Council.
In addition, South Korea and like-minded partners such as the United States, Japan, Australia, and the European Union have joined forces to tighten the pressure against North Korea with their own separate unilateral sanctions, he said.
"If we are to change North Korea's behaviour, the sanctions must be strong enough to force North Korea to alter its strategic calculus," Mr Ahn said.
"Also, ensuring a robust deterrence posture against North Korea is an integral part of our response. The Korea-US alliance is making sure that we are prepared to deal with North Korea's belligerence including through extended deterrence.
"One more thing we have to keep in mind is that time is not on our side. We stand at the tipping point as North Korea is nearing the final stage of nuclear weaponisation of its nuclear material. It is imperative that we muster the will of the international community to deter North Korea's single-minded pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.
"Otherwise it will be too late for regrets. As we work towards North Korea's denuclearisation, we count on the strong support of the international community."
Anucha Charoenpo is Bangkok Post news editor.