President Park Geun-hye vowed to continue with its propaganda broadcasts across the border unless North Korea offered a clear apology for the recent land mine attack and pledged not to carry out further provocations, while top negotiators from both sides continued talks that stretched into a third day.

During a regular meeting with her senior aides, Park stood firmly by her oft-stated position that her administration would deal sternly with military provocations while remaining open to dialogue and engagement. Park warned of a strong retaliation against North Korea if provoked again, while adding that the South would do its utmost for mutual prosperity and peace if the two sides defused tension through dialogue.

North Koreans continued to deny their involvement in the land mine incident that maimed two South Korean soldiers while demanding an end to the propaganda broadcasts from powerful loudspeakers placed along the DMZ. The broadcasts were resumed for the first time in 11 years in retaliation against the North Korean land mine attack.

While Cheong Wa Dae National Security Office Chief Kim Kwan-jin and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo met Hwang Pyong-so, the North Korean military’s General Political Bureau director, and Kim Yang-gon, the Worker’s Party secretary and top official in charge of inter-Korean issues, at the truce village of Panmunjeom, North Korea continued to up the ante militarily.

In the usual North Korean tactic of engaging in dialogue while simultaneously increasing military tension, Pyongyang doubled the artillery units at the border and appears to have deployed about 70 percent of its submarine fleet — about 50 submarines — in what South Korea’s Ministry of Defense called an unprecedented development since the Korean War.

South Korea has also raised the state of alert of its military to stand ready to retaliate against any North Korean provocation. The U.S. has reaffirmed its commitment to the defense of South Korea, and the Defense Ministry spokesperson said that Seoul and Washington were reviewing the timing of the deployment of “strategic U.S. military assets.” Such assets may include a B-52 bomber and a nuclear-powered submarine currently stationed in Japan.

Contrary to North Korea’s propaganda that South Korean soldiers are deserting the military and that “plane fares have risen tenfold” as people seek to leave the country, South Koreans are going about as usual, unfazed by North Korea’s escalating military posture.

In fact, most South Koreans support the administration’s response to the North Korean provocations. For the first time in three months, Park’s approval rating has gone up, rising to 41 percent, according to an opinion poll conducted between Aug. 17-21, and reaching 42.4 percent on Aug. 21 when Park pledged stern retaliation against North Korea.

North Koreans view any attacks against its leader Kim Jong-un as unacceptable and it is highly unlikely that the North Korean negotiators will withdraw their demand for the end of propaganda broadcasts. At the same time, Park reaffirmed Monday morning that she would not back down from her demand for a clear apology and a pledge that there would be no more military provocations.

If the current standoff becomes protracted, fatigue will inevitably set in and there may be calls for more flexibility on the part of South Koreans. However, North Koreans would view such flexibility as Seoul acquiescing to Pyongyang’s demands and North Koreans will find it difficult to resist the temptation of the same cycle of provocation, negotiation, and getting their way. The North Korean regime should learn, once and for all, that such provocations will elicit strong retaliation from Seoul.