The main opposition Liberty Korea Party lashed out at the government Monday for abstaining from voting for two recently adopted UN resolutions against nuclear weapons.

Chung Woo-taik, the LKP whip, accused the liberal Moon Jae-in government of being "insensible and incompetent" in the face of Pyongyang's growing nuclear threats, while calling the abstentions the "wrong" decision.

"(The government) has to clearly explain to citizens who made the final decision to abstain from voting, through what process and why, and take responsibility for the abstentions," Chung told reporters. 

"We strongly condemn President Moon Jae-in's misjudgment and wrong choice," he added.

Seoul abstained from voting for two of the three resolutions that the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly adopted last week, as it has done so since 2015. All three measures are in opposition to nuclear weapons programs or testing.

One of the resolutions that Seoul shunned calls for "united action with renewed determination toward the total elimination of nuclear weapons," while the other envisions a nuclear free world by accelerating the implementation of nuclear disarmament commitments.

Seoul refused to vote on the first one because it put too much emphasis on the damage that one particular country, Japan, suffered from nuclear bombings in 1945. The other was shunned for potentially being at odds with America's provision of the nuclear umbrella to the South.

Criticizing the government's pursuit of cross-border dialogue and rapprochement, the conservative party has persistently demanded that it take a hard-line stance on an increasingly belligerent Pyongyang. (Yonhap)