Park: N. Korea heading for destruction

SEOUL, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye told her advisers Wednesday North Korea's nuclear ambitions could lead to its destruction, her staff says.

Park, who takes office Feb. 25, appears to be taking a harder position on North Korea following its nuclear test Tuesday, The New York Times reported. The North tested what its leaders described as a miniature atom bomb.

Park's staff released comments she made to her advisers on security and foreign affairs.

"No matter how many nuclear tests North Korea conducts to boost its nuclear capabilities, it will eventually bring itself self-destruction by wasting its resources," Park was quoted as saying by her office during a meeting Wednesday with her national security and foreign affairs advisers. "Nuclear weapons did not prevent the old Soviet Union from collapsing."

Park, the daughter of Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea from 1963 to 1979, is the first woman to be elected president. The head of the conservative Saenuri Party, she won 51.6 percent of the vote in the December election.

President Obama in his State of the Union message Tuesday promised the United States will keep South Korea under its "nuclear umbrella." He said North Korea's nuclear tests will only bring it more isolation from other countries.