UN chief stresses need for dialogue with DPRK

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday stressed the need for a dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) though he urged Pyongyang to end nuclear and missile developments.

Ban said at a keynote speech at the opening of a forum at South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju that a road to dialogue with the DPRK should be sought again, urging the DPRK to stop any more provocations and return to a path of complying with international obligations.

If tensions escalate on the Korean peninsula, it will affect the regions beyond Northeast Asia, Ban said, noting that he wanted to make contributions in any way as a UN chief and an individual, according to local media reports.

The DPRK has recently proposed to South Korea holding talks on military matters, but South Korea flatly rejected it as the proposal mentioned no agenda on its nuclear development.

DPRK's Ministry of the People's Armed Forces sent a notice to South Korea's Defense Ministry on May 21, making overtures to hold a working-level contact for inter-governmental military talks at a convenient venue and date for both sides between late May and early June.

The proposal came a day after the DPRK's National Defense Commission offered dialogue overtures, and the DPRK's defense ministry repeatedly proposed to its South Korean counterpart for military talks on Tuesday again.

Calling the dialogue offers as "camouflaged" charm offensives as the proposals included no mentioning of denuclearization, the Seoul defense ministry repeatedly said that Pyongyang should first show its willingness to denuclearize through actions before suggesting any inter-Korean talks.

Ban said that friendly inter-Korean relations will play a very important part in maintaining peace forever in the entire region.

The UN chief, however, expressed concerns about the DPRK's provocative acts earlier this year, saying that the international community responded to the DPRK's recent acts of very great concern with a strong will.

The DPRK tested what it claimed was its first hydrogen bomb in January, the fourth of its kind, and launched a long-range rocket, which was condemned as a disguised test of ballistic missile technology, in February.

In March, UN Security Council adopted tougher-than-ever sanctions on Pyongyang over the nuclear and missile tests, and South Korea introduced independent sanctions such as the shutdown of the last remaining inter-Korean economic project at the DPRK's border town of Kaesong.

Ban forecast that denuclearization on the Korean peninsula would gain speed when the UN sanctions are implemented entirely, calling for the international society to hold fast to the implementation.

The UN chief said that the DPRK's nuclear and missile developments would damage the country's security as well as the DPRK people, pointing out the widespread hunger among children in the DPRK.

Source: XINHUA