| National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang speaks during a meeting with Vietnam's National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan at the National Assembly, Thursday. Yonhap |
By Park Ji-won
National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang stressed the importance of continued talks with North Korea for unification, urging the international community to help to build peace on the Korean Peninsula.
“We should continue to engage with the North and seek to achieve unification eventually,” Moon told foreign correspondents in his opening remarks at a press conference in Seoul.
“We are in desperate need of the support of the international community to get this fragile sapling of peace to take root.”
His remarks came amid stalled denuclearization talks between the North and U.S. as well as the decreasing chances of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting Seoul this year.
His involvement as the Assembly speaker is likely in line with the Moon Jae-in government's moves to prioritize improving inter-Korean relations.
While praising the role of the international community for denuclearization of North Korea to support the peace initiative, he pledged to enhance parliamentary diplomacy citing the weakness of government-centered diplomacy, especially with neighboring countries amid diversifying international relations.
“I will also do my part and use my official overseas visits to strengthen efforts on the front of parliamentary diplomacy. Promoting more flexible and extensive exchanges is a must to strengthen international coordination for peace on the peninsula.”
Mentioning the end of the Assembly's regular session last week, he said “This opens up opportunities for members of the National Assembly to meet and interact with their counterparts in a wide range of countries, especially with representatives of the people from the major stakeholders in inter-Korean relations, that is, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia.”