South Korea wants to resume talks with North Korea

ANKARA

South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed wishes to soon resume talks with North Korea, according to media reports on Tuesday.

Moon made the comments to Cabinet ministers on eve of the third anniversary of the signing of the Panmunjom Declaration with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un.

"The time is approaching again when (we) should end long deliberation and restart dialogue," Moon was quoted by Yonhap News Agency as saying.

"The Panmunjom Declaration is a milestone of peace that no one can undermine," Moon said. "The path of peace, promised in the declaration, cannot be reversed under any circumstance."

Moon and Kim Jong-un met in the truce village of Panmunjom on April 27, 2018, and signed the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula.

But tension on the peninsula increased last year, particularly because Seoul failed to stop anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets from being sent across the border.

North Korea attacked and blew up the inter-Korean liaison office along the border in June 2020 that prompted Seoul to warn of a strong response if Pyongyang "further worsens the situation."

Last month, Moon criticized North Korea after Pyongyang launched ballistic and cruise missile tests.

Following the launches, Moon said any action that could affect the mood for dialogue is "undesirable." The move was also condemned by the US and UN Security Council.

But Moon said it is time to prepare for turning the "peace clock" again, taking lessons from difficulties in the peace process.

"Peace, for now, is incomplete, we should move toward irreversible permanent peace on the basis of the Panmunjom Declaration," he said.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid