ROK calls for DPRK to respond to dialogue offer

SEOUL - The unification ministry of the Republic of Korea (ROK) on Monday called for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to respond to Seoul's dialogue offer ahead of the 21st anniversary of the June 15 joint declaration.

Lee Jong-joo, unification ministry spokesperson, told a press briefing that the government urges the DPRK to return to the spirit of the June 15 joint declaration and positively respond to the call for dialogue and cooperation between the two Koreas.

She said the government will make best efforts to move forward the Korean Peninsula peace process by continuing to implement the inter-Korean agreements, including the joint declaration.

The declaration was announced during the summit in Pyongyang in June 2000 between late ROK President Kim Dae-jung and late DPRK leader Kim Jong-il, the father of the current DPRK leader.

The ROK government will hold no official event on Tuesday to mark the 21st anniversary of the declaration, but several events would be reportedly hosted by civilians, municipal governments, and the parliament.

The spokesperson noted that the declaration opened a new era for reconciliation, cooperation, peace and unification between the two Koreas and laid foundation for the peninsula peace process.

The inter-Korean talks have been stalled since the second summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and then US President Donald Trump ended without an agreement in February 2019 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

Tensions escalated between the two Koreas when Pyongyang destroyed the inter-Korean liaison office in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong in June last year in protest against the anti-DPRK propaganda leaflets flown from the ROK side.