President Lee Jae Myung on Jan. 21 takes questions at his new year's news conference at the official guest house Yeongbingwan of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. (Cheong Wa Dae)
By Xu Aiying
President Lee Jae Myung on Jan. 21 said, "We will strive to restore the September 19 (2018) military agreement to prevent accidental clashes and build political and military trust between the two Koreas."
He said this at his new year's news conference at the official guest house Yeongbingwan of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul.
"We will unwaveringly progress toward a future of peaceful coexistence and mutual growth," he added. "As a 'pacemaker,' we will put all our diplomatic efforts so that U.S.-North Korea dialogue is held as soon as possible and keep gradually creating the conditions for the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue."
"While the bitter cold won't go away overnight, we will consistently and continuously pursue feasible actions to elicit a positive response from the North and alleviate tension on the Korean Peninsula," he added.
"Based on our firm alliance with the U.S., a strong and independent national defense, and pragmatic diplomacy focused on national interests, we will promote peace on the Korean Peninsula and continue taking meaningful steps toward a nuclear-free peninsula."
Meanwhile, Minister of Unification Chung Dongyoung that day said, "The most certain path for creating peace is inter-Korean exchange."
Speaking at a meeting of the South and North Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council at Government Complex-Seoul, he added, "We must lift the curtains of hostility and confrontation and reopen all roads and railways leading to the continent, something the Lee administration is fully prepared to do."
He cited projects such as the construction of a high-speed rail between Seoul and Beijing included in a presidential briefing at the end of last year, adding, "We will certainly find a path for resuming inter-Korean exchange through a mutually beneficial, multilateral and groundbreaking plan for cooperation."
xuaiy@korea.kr