SKorea leader offers North engagement SOUTH Korea's new president Park Geun-Hye has offered a "more flexible" engagement with North Korea if Pyongyang chooses a path of trust-building rather than provocation. In an annual speech marking Korea's 1919 uprising against Japan's colonial rule on Friday, Park urged Pyongyang to understand that "nothing will be gained from nuclear development or provocations save for greater isolation and hardship." Park was inaugurated as South Korea's first woman president on Monday, less than two weeks after North Korea triggered global outrage by conducting its third nuclear test. "While provocations by the North will be met by stronger counter-responses, the North's willingness to make the right choice and walk the path of change will be answered with more flexible engagement," the president said. During her election campaign, Park had promised to pursue a trust-building policy with Pyongyang, in contrast to the hardline stance of her predecessor Lee Myung-Bak. But observers say her immediate options will be limited by the international outcry over the North's nuclear test, which has emboldened the hawks in her ruling conservative party who oppose closer engagement. Pyongyang has ramped up its bellicose rhetoric in recent weeks, directing dire warnings and threats at both Washington and Seoul as the UN Security Council considers tougher sanctions in response to the test. Earlier this week, it said South Korea would face "final destruction" if it pushed for a harsh UN resolution, and warned Washington that the US mainland was "well within" the range of its nuclear weapons.