Top security adviser briefs President-elect Yoon on N. Korea, Ukraine

SEOUL, March 12 (Yonhap) -- President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol was briefed Saturday about situations on North Korea and Ukraine from national security adviser Suh Hoon, Cheong Wa Dae said.

The briefing was aimed at helping Yoon cope with foreign and security issues amid fast-changing geopolitical situations, Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement.

South Korea and the United States are stepping up combined defense amid concerns Pyongyang could engage in provocative acts after its veiled threat in January to lift a voluntary moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

North Korea appears to be working to restore underground tunnels of its purportedly demolished Punggye-ri nuclear test site, government sources here said.

Indications have also emerged North Korea has started work to remove South Korean-built facilities at the Mount Kumgang resort on its east coast, once a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation, in yet another move likely to raise cross-border tensions.

kdh@yna.co.kr
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