President Lee Jae Myung: "We Will Do Our Utmost to Resume North Korea-U.S. Dialogue, End the War on the Korean Peninsula and Establish a Peace Regime"

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung said on the 18th, "There are faint signs that the wind that had died down is beginning to blow again. There are hands knocking on the door to North Korea-U.S. dialogue once more. Our government will do everything it can to ensure that those efforts lead to the resumption of North Korea-U.S. dialogue and develop into discussions on ending the war on the Korean Peninsula and establishing a peace regime."
President Lee made the remarks in a congratulatory address he sent to a ceremony held at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea that day to mark the anniversaries of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration and the Inter-Korean Military Agreement. Kim Kyoung-soo, the president's special adviser for political affairs, read the address on his behalf.
President Lee said, "The wind of peace on the Korean Peninsula that took root in Pyeongchang County in 2018 continued through Panmunjom and Singapore to Pyongyang. The two Koreas slowly lowered the guns they had pointed at each other and promised never to fight again."
However, he noted, "Unfortunately, that wind did not last long. Dialogue between the two Koreas was severed, the door to cooperation was closed, and the nights of tension grew long again. As the period of hostility and confrontation has lengthened, our economy and security are paying a price they should not have had to pay."
President Lee emphasized, "Compared with eight years ago, the North's nuclear capabilities have advanced, and the external environment is by no means favorable to us. A warm wind can turn into a biting wind in an instant, and we are painfully realizing that reversing that change is many times harder and slower. But landmarks remain even where the wind has died down. The September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration and the Inter-Korean Military Agreement are precious commitments that the two Koreas forged together as they considered where to begin untangling the threads toward a Korean Peninsula where there is 'no need to fight.'"
He added, "We will use those landmarks as our guide. The more tangled the thread, the more we must patiently untangle it one strand at a time. We will first identify and pursue what we can do. We will breathe peace back into the Korean Peninsula."
President Lee said, "The promise made in Pyongyang eight years ago came from a determination to eliminate unnecessary risks of war and resolve hostile relations. The Korean people's desire for peace has never stopped. Now, we will make that wind blow again."

[email protected] Choi Jong-geun Reporter