S.Korea urges DPRK to take responsible attitude to reunite divided peninsula

South Korea on Tuesday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to take responsible attitude to reunite the divided Korean Peninsula. "Thursday will mark the 23rd anniversary of the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement, which is a basic charter for south-north relations, coming into force," Seoul's unification ministry said in a spokesman's commentary. "The government respects all south- north agreements including the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement,and makes it clear once again that Seoul maintains a coherent position of building trust by abiding by them," the ministry said.

On Feb. 19, 1992, the two Koreas implemented the basic agreement about inter-Korean reconciliation and non-aggression as well as increased exchange and cooperation.

It was very unusual for the South Korean government to announce a commentary to mark the anniversary of the agreement. "South and North Korea should peacefully resolve pending inter-Korean issues, including the reunion of separated families (by the 1950- 53 Korean War), through dialogue and negotiations as agreed on the basic agreement," the ministry said.

The ministry urged the DPRK to show responsible attitude to resolve the issue of the divided peninsula, calling on Pyongyang to respond to Seoul's dialogue offer without hesitation.

South Korea proposed to hold high-level talks with the DPRK in January to discuss all issues of mutual concern, but the DPRK has kept mum about it, citing various preconditions such as the halt of annual war games between Seoul and Washington and the stop of anti-DPRK leaflet dispersion. Endi