Former President Moon Jae-in speaks during a conference in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province, Sept. 20. Yonhap

Former President Moon Jae-in lambasted the North Korea policies of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration on Friday, saying they have led to the "most dangerous" state on the Korean Peninsula since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Moon, a liberal whose North Korea policies centered on bringing lasting peace through diplomacy, attacked the policies of his conservative successor at a conference held in the southwestern county of Yeongam to mark the sixth anniversary of the Pyongyang Joint Declaration he signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"(The Yoon government) is calling only for 'peace by strength' and abandoning dialogue, effectively stating its intention to unify by absorption and making the situation worse," Moon said. "It has turned into nothing the efforts of past administrations to build trust and have dialogue with North Korea, which they did by repeatedly stating their intention not to seek unification by absorption."

Moon recalled that as part of the Pyongyang Joint Declaration, the two Koreas had agreed to a series of military tension reduction steps, but the Yoon administration suspended the measures in June in response to the North's provocations.

"The Korean Peninsula is in a dangerous state where a military clash could happen at any time," he said. "Right now, the Korean Peninsula is in the most dangerous state since the Korean War."

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have run high in recent months as North Korea has sent trash-carrying balloons across the border while continuing to test ballistic missiles and disclosing a uranium enrichment facility earlier this month.

Moon expressed concern about what he described as an "intensifying Cold War structure" around the Korean Peninsula, saying South Korea should not reinforce it but instead pursue "balanced diplomacy" and even serve as a "mediator for peace."

He also argued that inter-Korean dialogue should precede any dialogue between the United States and the North, with Seoul playing an active role in efforts to denuclearize the North.

"There's a possibility that a resumption of U.S.-North Korea talks will be sought under a new administration following the U.S. presidential election," he said. "When that happens, we should not be excluded like before."

During Moon's time in office, then U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held three summit meetings to try to reach a deal on dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program but failed to produce concrete results.

Moon urged the North to return to dialogue.

"It is reckless and dangerous to again cling to nuclear weapons and return to the past while pushing confrontation," he said. "(North Korea) must return to dialogue at an early date."

Moon also criticized Kim's stipulation of inter-Korean relations as those between two hostile states, saying it is "anti-national" and "runs counter to the people's wishes for peace and unification." (Yonhap)