South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Monday that peace
arrangement on the peninsula is the top agenda of the upcoming
inter-Korean summit meeting.
"Without confidence in peace, (the inter-Korean cooperation) on
co-prosperity and unification would be meaningless. Furthermore,
regional circumstances surrounding the peninsula, including the
six-party talks on the settlement of the nuclear issue, have
entered a wholly different phase," Roh said at an ceremony marking
the 59th Armed Force Day.
Depending on the progress of Korean Peninsula peace talks, South
Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will
begin to discuss way to enhance mutual military confidence, a
Korean Peninsula peace treaty and inter-Korean disarmament, Roh
said.
Roh is to travel to Pyongyang on Tuesday and hold summit meeting
with DPRK top leader Kim Jong-il there. It will be the second
inter-Korean summit in history. The last one was conducted in June
2000 by then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.
"I will depart for Pyongyang tomorrow to hold summit talks with
Chairman Kim Jong-il of the North (DPRK)'s National Defense
Commission. Many issues will be on the agenda, but I'll prioritize
the establishment of a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula,"
Roh said.
The elimination of the confrontational order on the peninsula
and the establishment of peace would be the nation's best security
strategies, Roh said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 1, 2007)
