North Korea urges South to respond to reunification call

North Korea Friday urged South Korea to respond to its proposal for forming a low-level federation on the Korean Peninsula.

The Central Committee for the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea issued a memorandum which offers a detailed review of the proposal and contributions made by three North Korean leaders to the nation's reunification, Xinhua reported.

The proposal was first put forward in 1980 by late president Kim Il Sung, who advocated founding the Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo, a loose form of reunified national state that enables the two Koreas to exercise regional autonomy and different ideologies.

The best way to reunify the divided nation is to form a reunified state through the federal formula based on "one nation and one state, two systems and two governments", the memorandum said.

The cause of national reunification is now greeting a new phase under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, it added.

Pyongyang also called upon Seoul to follow through on the June 15 Joint Declaration, in which both sides agreed that a common element exists in the north's low-level federation proposal and the south's confederation idea, and that both countries should promote reunification in that direction.

"The South Korean authorities should respect the joint declaration, work hard to carry it out and positively respond to the aspiration of all Koreans for reconciliation, unity and peaceful reunification," it said.