NEW YORK– South Korean President Moon Jae-in suggested once again in his United Nations speech Tuesday that the two Koreas and the United States, probably joined by China, declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War.
“When the parties involved in the Korean War stand together and proclaim an end to the War, I believe we can make irreversible progress in denuclearization and usher in an era of complete peace,” he said, addressing the 76th session of the U.N. General Assembly here.
It marked his last speech at the annual U.N. session, with his single five-year tenure slated to finish in early May 2022.
He called for “speedy resumption of dialogue” between the two Koreas and between the U.S. and North Korea.
“I hope to see that the Korean Peninsula will prove the power of dialogue and cooperation in fostering peace,” Moon said, citing a set of inter-Korean agreements as well as the Pyongyang-Washington summit accord signed in Singapore in 2018.
Moon made no mention of North Korea’s recent test-launches of ballistic and cruise missiles.
He instead proposed the resumption of an inter-Korean program to get separated families reunited.
“Heeding the yearnings of the separated families, already advanced in age, we must lose no time in pressing ahead with their reunions,” he stated.
He added that the two Koreas can work together in regional platforms such as the Northeast Asia Cooperation for Health Security, which will make them respond more effectively to infectious diseases and natural disasters.
“As a community bound by common destiny on the Korean Peninsula, and as the members of the global community, the South and North, I hope, will come together to join forces,” Moon said.
In 2018, Moon first used his U.N. speech to emphasize the need for a formal end to the Korean War, which ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Source: Yonhap News Agency