SEOUL-- A former senior South Korean government official on North Korea called on the incoming administration Wednesday to seek stronger "extended deterrence" from the United States and emphasized the need for a cautious approach on the issue of potential sanctions relief for Pyongyang.

Lee Do-hoon, who served as special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs under the outgoing Moon Jae-in administration, stressed that imposing sanctions is "the only peaceful way as of now" to pressure the North back to the negotiating table. Having played a key role in the now-stalled Korea peace process, he worked as a member of a group of foreign and national security policy advisers for President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol during his campaign trail.

"We need to strengthen the enforcement of extended deterrence, or the nuclear umbrella provided by the U.S.," Lee said during a forum here. Extended deterrence refers to Washington's commitment to protecting its Asian ally against potential North Korean aggression by mobilizing a full range of its military capabilities, nuclear and conventional.

Lee also advised against hurrying to ease sanctions on the North before it takes substantive steps for denuclearization in order to avoid giving economic leeway for the regime to develop nuclear weapons.

"Once cash flows into the North, denuclearization will be off the table," he said. "As soon as it recovers economically, the North will only speed up its nuclear and missiles development."

Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been in a stalemate since their Hanoi summit in 2019 ended without a deal.

Source: Yonhap News Agency