S. Korean president calls for cooperation with DPRK on trans-boundary river management

South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Sunday called for boosting cooperation with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on trans-boundary rivers management.

Park made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 7th World Water Forum(WWF) which kicked off in South Korea's southeastern city of Daegu on Sunday afternoon.

The forum, which held every three years organized by the World Water Council, is the world's largest water related forum that bring together around 3,5000 world leaders, business people and experts to discuss the water challenge.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Park emphasized the significance of effectively managing trans-boundary rivers where international water disputes mainly happened.

She hoped that a practical solution could be worked out during the World Water Forum to solve international water disputes and contribute to the world peace.

Park said tensions between South Korea and the DPRK could be eased if linking water routes connecting both sides.

She said South Korea plans to create a dialogue channel through which Seoul and Pyongyang can meet to start with the co-management of rivers passing through the two sides.

She also called for the international community to apply more creative ideas and high technology to solve water related issues and to boost relevant industries, hopefully transforming the water challenges into opportunities for economic growth.

"The water shortage has become a global problem due to the severe climate change, which needs different countries joint together to find out a win-win solution," said Park, adding that the developed countries should share more advanced science and technology on water management with the developing countries. Endi