By Kim Young Shin

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said on June 18 that the Korean government aims to declare a formal end to war this year, and that it is flexible regarding the time and format.

The country's top diplomat held a press briefing at the ministry's building in Seoul to mark the first anniversary of her inauguration and said, “The declaration of an end to war is one of the priorities and is part of the process of bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula.”

“We are closely cooperating with the U.S. and the declaration was also discussed during the NK-U.S. summit,” Kang said. “The U.S. has also expressed its will for an end to war, as we can see by the fact that the Panmunjeom Declaration was reaffirmed in the joint declaration that was signed between North Korea and the U.S. in Singapore.”

Minister Kang said that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he would “sit down at the negotiating table with the North at an early date” during a phone call earlier that day.

Regarding sanctions, she said, “Korea and the U.S. are on the same page, that sanctions should be maintained until the North takes practical denuclearization measures.”

“Secretary Pompeo and I are in close communication and have air-tight cooperation in sharing developments in the situation on the Korean Peninsula and possible next steps,” said the minister. “As the U.S. reinforces its negotiation team with North Korea, we will professionally and thoroughly deal with denuclearization and a regime of peace at the diplomatic level.”

ysk1111@korea.kr