SEOUL, June 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, the country's top policymaker in charge of inter-Korean affairs, on Thursday called for the continued summit between the two Koreas amid the stalled talks for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula between Pyongyang and Washington.
He made the remark in a forum to mark the 19th anniversary of the first-ever inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang on June 15, 2000 between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong Il, then leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), according to local media reports.
Kim said the inter-Korean summit should continue in order to reinvigorate the denuclearization and peace process through the virtuous cycle of the summits between the two Koreas, between the DPRK and the United States, and between South Korea and the United States.
The minister noted that the South Korean government would bear in mind the spirit of mutual respect, trust, peace and reciprocity as seen in the June 15 Joint Declaration, saying Seoul would not stop its journey for peace on the Korean Peninsula while implementing the joint declarations of the two Koreas.
His remark came a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed his hope to meet with top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un before U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Seoul at the end of this month.
Moon said at the Oslo Forum in the Norwegian capital that if possible, it would be desirable for him to meet the DPRK leader before Trump's trip to South Korea, noting that he was always ready to meet Kim at any time.
Trump was scheduled to visit Japan and South Korea later this month to discuss the denuclearization of the peninsula, according to the U.S. State Department.
Denuclearization negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled since the second Kim-Trump summit ended with no agreement in late February in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
