By Park Gil-ja and Yoon Sojung

South and North Korea held a joint event in Pyeongyang on Oct. 5 to commemorate the Declaration on the Advancement of South-North Korean Relations, Peace and Prosperity, otherwise known as the Oct 4 Declaration of the inter-Korean summit in 2007.

The two sides agreed to fully implement the Panmunjeom Declaration and the Pyeongyang Declaration of 2018.

A 160-strong South Korean delegation took part in the event. The southern delegation included Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-Gyon, Chairperson of the Democratic Party Lee Hae-chan, son of former President Roh Moo-hyun, Roh Geon-ho and members of the National Assembly and civic groups.

The South Korean delegation attended the joint commemoration ceremony at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyeongyang marking the 11th anniversary of the Oct. 4 Declaration which was signed by leaders of both Koreas in 2007.

The North Korean participants included President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly Kim Yong Nam and Chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country Ri Son Gwon.

The joint event was part of the agreement reached by South and North Korean leaders at the latest inter-Korean summit in Pyeongyang on Sept. 19 to jointly commemorate the 11th anniversary of the declaration.

This is the first time for both Koreas to hold the joint event to mark the joint declaration of the 2007 inter-Korean summit signed by then-President Roh Moo-hyun and former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

The event was attended by approximately 3,000 people, including the delegation from South Korea and from overseas. The participants adopted a joint letter composed of four clauses. In the letter, they said, “We call for all-out efforts of the whole nation to faithfully implement the Panmunjeom and Pyeongyang declarations in order to achieve epoch-making advancement in inter-Korean relations and to accelerate steps for peace and prosperity.”

They continued, “The historic Panmunjeom and Pyeongyang declarations of 2018 are a brilliant outcome that built on the June 15 South North Joint Declaration of 2000 and the Oct. 4 Declaration of 2007 and that presents a new direction for the unification of the Korean people.”

“We need to write a new history in a new era of peace and prosperity where we decide the destiny of our people,” said the letter.

“We need to completely end the danger of war and to create our land as a land of peace without threats of nuclear weapons or any other threats,” it said.

The event participants all urged in the letter that, “Both South and North Korea should achieve prosperity by revitalizing cooperation in various channels, exchanges, contacts and travel.”

“Inter-Korean cooperation and exchanges, contacts and travel are all actions to reconnect the blood vessels of the nation,” it said.

krun@korea.kr