South Korea Lee's seeks UN backing for Korean Peninsula dialogue initiative

ANKARA

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung sought the United Nations backing for a Korean Peninsula dialogue initiative to achieve North Korea's denuclearization through dialogue, his office said Wednesday.

Lee met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines Tuesday of the UN General Assembly and outlined a dialogue initiative based on "exchange … normalization and denuclearization" to end confrontation and open a new era of peace on the Korean Peninsula, according to Yonhap News.

"President Lee said that peace and security on the Korean Peninsula are directly linked to global peace and security, and requested the U.N.'s support in moving beyond conflict and confrontation toward dialogue and cooperation," his office said in a statement.

The UN chief welcomed the initiative as a “wise approach” and pledged the world body’s active support, while promising to deepen cooperation with Seoul.

On Tuesday, during his address to the UN General Assembly, Lee acknowledged denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not possible in the short term, and said Seoul wants an end to the "vicious cycle" of hostility with Pyongyang as well as inter-Korean military tensions.

Pyongyang has stated that any talks with the international community will take place only after North Korea is acknowledged as a nuclear power.

​​​​​​​The Korean Peninsula has been divided since the Korean War of the 1950s, which ended in an armistice, not a ceasefire, which technically keeps the divided Koreas at war.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid