ROK president proposes restoring communication channels with DPRK

SEOUL - President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday proposed restoring communication channels with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), according to the presidential office.

Lee made the remarks at the inauguration ceremony of the 22nd Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, which advises the president on unification issues, stressing that reviving the inter-Korean dialogue, suspended for seven years, will be the starting point for new inter-Korean relations of peaceful coexistence.

He said inter-Korean meetings should begin to prevent accidental military clashes, resolve the sufferings of people caused by the divided Korean Peninsula and discuss various pending issues between the two sides, proposing the restoration of inter-Korean communication channels for the resumption of frank dialogue.

The president, who serves as chairman of the council, noted that the two sides can gradually start with inter-Korean exchange and cooperation projects in areas such as climate and environment, disaster and safety, and public health and medical services.

Lee emphasized that his government will continue efforts to end the state of war on the peninsula, pursue a nuclear-free peninsula and establish lasting peace, vowing to end hostility and confrontation between the two Koreas and create new inter-Korean relations of peaceful coexistence.

The peninsula technically remains in a state of war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.