[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Regarding the reason why President Moon Jae-in once again brought up the card of a declaration of the end of the war in his final keynote speech at the United Nations General Assembly, the Blue House stated, "(The declaration of the end of the war) will serve as a momentum to drive various steps leading to denuclearization."
Park Soo-hyun, the Blue House Communications Secretary, appeared on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" on the morning of the 23rd and said, "At the current stage, that (declaration of the end of the war) is the best stepping stone we can take."
Earlier, on the 21st (local time), President Moon proposed in his keynote speech at the 76th UN General Assembly, "Let the three parties?South Korea, North Korea, and the United States?or the four parties?South Korea, North Korea, the United States, and China?gather to jointly declare that the war on the Korean Peninsula has ended." He emphasized the necessity of the 'declaration of the end of the war' again this year, following last year.
In response to the host's remark that there are many negative prospects since President Moon has only about eight months left in his term, he replied, "No one thinks that resolving inter-Korean issues and achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula is easy. Regardless of how much time is left in the term, faithfully carrying out the historical mission entrusted to us is what the people have entrusted the Moon Jae-in administration with the power of the state to do."
Secretary Park emphasized that the declaration of the end of the war is not the result of denuclearization but the starting point, stating, "North Korea has agreed to promote such steps on several occasions, so if North Korea comes to the negotiating table through successful North Korea-US talks, it is a topic that can be pursued together at any time."
Regarding criticism that President Moon's speech did not include criticism of North Korea's missile provocations, he responded, "The government makes the best choices by comprehensively considering all situations," and added, "We are striving to produce the best results."
Concerning the warning by Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), about 'North Korea's nuclear program development' at this UN General Assembly, when asked by the host if there is no other way to restrain this except the declaration of the end of the war, he replied, "There are various incentives. We are always consulting together in terms of strengthening the firm alliance between South Korea and the United States," and added, "We are closely monitoring North Korea's situation through various means between South Korea and the United States."
Regarding whether the dialogue channels that North Korea unilaterally cut off are operational, he said, "Due to the nature of diplomatic and security issues, confidentiality is very important, and this is not only our problem but also the counterpart's, so naturally, confidentiality must be maintained mutually," and added, "When sudden results come out one day, it shows that dialogue channels remain open even during wartime."
On the possibility of a meeting between the South and North Korean leaders at the Beijing Winter Olympics next year, he explained, "We are keeping all possibilities open with the hope that issues such as peace on the Korean Peninsula, denuclearization, and peace in Northeast Asia will be well resolved."
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