South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday that his country will pursue peace and prosperity with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on the Korean Peninsula.
"We are against a war ... We pursue peace and intend to live well together. We will continuously search for routes that are mutually beneficial for both Koreas through peace," Moon said in his speech for an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War outbreak.
"Achieving peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula is a duty that must be fulfilled without fail ... It is a long-desired wish for 80 million Koreans," Moon said.
The peninsula is in a technical state of war as the three-year Korean War ended in truce, rather than peace treaty.
"I hope that North Korea (DPRK) will also boldly embark on an endeavor to end the most sorrowful war in world history," said Moon.
"If we are going to talk about unification, we have to achieve peace first, and only after peace has continued for a long time will we be able to finally see the door to unification," Moon noted.
Denuclearization talks between the DPRK and the United States have stalled since the second summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump ended without agreement in February 2019 in Vietnam.
Tensions escalated on the peninsula as the DPRK cut off all communication lines and demolished the inter-Korean liaison office building in its border city of Kaesong in protest against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by South Korean civic group activists, mostly defectors from the DPRK.
Earlier this month, Moon called on the DPRK to find a breakthrough through dialogue.
The Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) decided to suspend the military action plans against South Korea in a meeting presided over by the DPRK leader.
