S. Korea's Park stresses unification with DPRK on WWII anniversary

South Korean President Park Geun-hye stressed the importance of unification with the Democratic People' s Republic of Korea (DPRK) during her speech on Saturday to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule.

"True liberation (from Japan's colonization) will be completed only through unification of the divided nation," said Park, noting that the two Koreas should cure the pains of the past to go together toward a future.

After the peninsula's independence in 1945 from Japan's colonial era, the United States and the Soviet Union set up military administrations in South Korea and the DPRK each in the name of disarming Japanese forces.

Amid conflicts among Koreans over the two-power trusteeship, respective governments were launched in the two Koreas in 1948. The 1950-53 Korean War broke out on the peninsula, resulting in the divided Korea since then.

The peninsula suffered from gimmick between powers as seen in the Taft-Katsura Memorandum in 1905, through which the U.S. gave tacit approval to Japan's colonization in return for Japan's acceptance of the U.S. control over the Philippines.

President Park also stressed the importance of dialogue and cooperation with the DPRK, but she said the country will sternly deal with any DPRK provocations, citing the blast of "landmines," which Seoul claimed were planted by DPRK forces on the South side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

On Aug. 4, the landmine blasts maimed two South Korean soldiers, raising the already escalated tensions on the peninsula. Park said it was in flat violations of the armistice agreement and the inter- Korean non-aggression treaty, vowing a firm response to any DPRK provocations that threaten the South Korean people's safety.

The president said the DPRK hasn't responded to any South Korean offer for dialogue, urging Pyongyang to stop any provocations and nuclear development, and to join the path to easing military tensions and building trust.

The mine blasts, Park said, reminded her of the importance of creating a peace zone in the DMZ. Park urged the DPRK to participate in her plan to build the World Peace Park inside the DMZ, a buffer zone stretching about 2 kilometers on both sides of the military demarcation line (MDL) dividing the two Koreas.

Park offered to the DPRK exchanging the list of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War to confirm the life and death of the separated families. South Korea plans to deliver its own list to the DPRK and propose a regular reunion of the families.

According to government data, 66,843 South Koreans were on the list of the separated families as of the end of May. Among to the total, 54.5 percent, or 36,460, were aged more than 80.

The family reunion event was last held in February 2014, and no high-level inter-governmental dialogue has been held since then. Endi