SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday stressed the importance of peace on the Korean Peninsula on the 72nd anniversary of the peninsula's liberation from the Japanese colonial rule.
Moon said in a speech that the divided peninsula was the evil-starred legacy of the colonial era, emphasizing that peace is the calling of the age for the peninsula.
Overcoming the division through the peace establishment, Moon said, would become a real way of completing the liberation.
Moon said peace is the peninsula's strategy for survival as security, economic growth and prosperity would not be ensured without peace, noting that peace on the peninsula would lead to peace in Northeast Asia and the world.
Describing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear and missile programs as the biggest challenge, Moon said South Korea should play a leading role in the peninsula issue.
Moon, who took office in early May, held a summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in late June, reaching an agreement that South Korea would become a dominant player in addressing the peninsula issue.
The president said the security situation on the peninsula got significantly grave, stressing that any more war should not break out on the peninsula.
It would be only South Korea that can decide to take military actions on the peninsula, said Moon who emphasized that any party can not decide to take military actions on the peninsula without the consent of South Korea.
The peninsula was colonized by the Imperial Japan from 1910 to 1945.
