South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivers a speech during a celebration of the 72nd anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from the Japanese colonial rule in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 15, 2017. South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday stressed the importance of peace on the Korean Peninsula to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the peninsula's liberation from the Japanese colonial rule. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)
SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday stressed the importance of peace on the Korean Peninsula to celebrate 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.
The peninsula was colonized by the Imperial Japan from 1910 to 1945.
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 issues.
The president said security situations 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 cannot decide to take military actions on the peninsula without the consent of South Korea.
Tensions escalated on the peninsula after the DPRK test-fired what it called an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) twice last month.
Trump warned Pyongyang that if it continues threats on the United States, it would be met with "fire and fury."
In response, the DPRK warned the launch of its intermediate-range ballistic missiles targeting the waters off the coast of the U.S. island of Guam in the Pacific.
The U.S. president said his country's military was "locked and loaded," suggesting possible military actions toward the DPRK and mounting tensions further on the peninsula.
The South Korean leader said his government will stake all on preventing a war on the peninsula. He noted that no difference existed between Seoul and Washington in the way that the peninsula issue must be resolved peacefully.
He vowed to make more diplomatic efforts for the peaceful resolution, while leaving a door to dialogue on military affairs open to defuse military tensions between the two Koreas.
The DPRK's nuclear program, Moon said, should be resolved with a first step of freezing the program. Conditions for dialogue could be ensured when Pyongyang at least stops further nuclear and missile provocations, he said.
Moon said tougher sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang aimed to encourage the DPRK to come to the dialogue table, urging the country to immediately stop provocation and come to the dialogue table.
He reiterated his initiative for economic cooperation with the DPRK, called New Korean Peninsula Economic roadmap, repeating his dialogue offers to resolve the humanitarian issue.
Moon was widely forecast to inherit the so-called Sunshine Policy of engagement with the DPRK through economic cooperation and the exchanges of culture, sports and personnel. It is sometimes dubbed Moonshine Policy.
Seoul offered to Pyongyang having talks to defuse military tensions on the peninsula and to discuss the reunion of separated families of the two Koreas, which have been divided since the three-year Korean War ended in 1953 with ceasefire.
The DPRK has been mum about the dialogue overtures.
