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Meeting held in DPRK marking joint declaration
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-16 14:51

PYONGYANG -- Non-governmental organizations from both sides of the Korean Peninsula held a meeting in the DPRK Sunday to mark the 8th anniversary of June 15 declaration, said the official Rodong Sinmun daily Monday.

Delegates of the north, south and overseas Koreans convened at Mt. Kumgang in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commemorating the publication of the joint declaration reached in 2000 by the DPRK top leader Kim Jong Il and then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

Under the banner of "by our nation itself," the delegates urged that the reunification should strictly stick to the principles set by the joint declaration, according to the newspaper.

They were reported vowing to conduct a nationwide movement to "overcome the challenges to the nation and interference in its internal affairs and defend the national dignity, interests and sovereignty."

The DPRK and South Korea have made unprecedented strides toward reconciliation under liberal South Korean presidents in the past decade, holding first inter-Korean summit in 2000 and reconnecting transportation links across their heavily armed frontier.

Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul turn tense since South Korea's new conservative president, Lee Myung-bak, pledged to review rapprochement projects pushed by his two liberal predecessors.

Government-level talks between the two sides have been suspended following Lee's inauguration in February this year while civilian-level contacts are still underway.