S. Korean president calls for rapid ratification of Panmunjom Declaration in parliament

SEOUL – South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday stressed the need for a rapid ratification of the Panmunjom Declaration in the parliament, calling for a "bipartisan support" from the opposition parties. 

Moon convened a meeting with senior presidential secretaries, the first such meeting after Friday's summit with Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), according to the Blue House. 

Moon and Kim announced the Panmunjom Declaration after their first meeting in the border village of Panmunjom, agreeing to a complete denuclearization and the change of the current armistice agreement into a peace treaty by the end of this year. 

Moon said the two Koreas agreed to the complete denuclearization and the nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. 

He emphasized that the Panmunjom Declaration must be made "an irreversible history for peace and prosperity" on the peninsula, instructing his secretaries to focus on follow-up measures as the first step just started. 

The South Korean leader said measures should be rapidly taken to ratify the inter-Korean agreement in the National Assembly, instructing officials to make efforts in cooperation with the parliament for a bipartisan support. 

It is a part of efforts to make the Panmunjom Declaration a law that cannot be altered due to government changes in South Korea. 

Previous inter-Korean agreements, reached at the first and second summits between the two Koreas in 2000 and 2007, were suspended under different governments. 

Moon said the government should make all necessary efforts for the successful DPRK-U.S. summit, which is forecast to be held in May or early June. 

He told officials to maintain a close dialogue channel with the DPRK and the United States while making efforts to secure support from the international society. Enditem 
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