Seoul calls for 'positive' response from North Korea on peace proposal

Inter-Korean cooperation mandatory to draw up a breakthrough for peace reports Xinhua

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South Korea's Unification Ministry on Friday urged North Korea to positively respond to President Moon Jae-in's peace initiative on the Korean peninsula, which was proposed in Germany.

Inter-Korean cooperation would be mandatory to draw up a breakthrough for peace on the peninsula, Xinhua news agency quoted Lee Yoo-jin, deputy spokesperson of the Unification Ministry, as saying.

Lee expressed an anticipation of North Korea's positive response to the "Korean Peninsula Peace Initiative" suggested on Thursday by Moon who was visiting Germany to attend a Group of 20 (G20) Summit.

Moon, who took office on May 10, explained his government's policy to establish a permanent peace on the peninsula, saying he will make the Korean peninsula free from threats of nuclear weapons and war by acknowledging and respecting each other.

The new South Korean leader proposed to implement the agreements reached by his two predecessors, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moon-hyun, when they met late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007, respectively.

Moon vowed to pursue the denuclearised peninsula that guarantees the Communist regime, urging Pyongyang to stop all nuclear provocations and hold bilateral and multilateral dialogue for the denuclearisation.

He offered to establish a permanent peace regime on the peninsula to end the armistice, which stemmed from the 1950-1953 Korean War. The peninsula is technically in a state of war as the fratricidal war ended in truce, not peace treaty.

Moon suggested to deepen inter-Korean economic cooperation by linking railways and shipping routes of the two Koreas, while strengthening non-political inter-Korean exchanges separately from political and military situations.

Lee said the government would make efforts to materialise and implement Moon's North Korea policy, based on a public consensus and communications with the political arena.

He said the South Korean government would make efforts to gain support and understanding of the international community and relevant countries such as the US.