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UN head welcomes resumption of Pyongyang-Seoul high-level dialogue

Ban Ki-moon said the dialogue is the only way to settle differences between Pyongyang and Seoul

© Archive EPA/ИТАР-ТАСС/JASON SZENES

UNITED NATIONS, October 5. /TASS/. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed on Saturday negotiations between South Korea and North Korea (DPRK), as well as their agreement to hold another high-level meeting soon. Ban said the dialogue is the only way to settle differences between Pyongyang and Seoul.

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The secretary-general welcomes the high-level political dialogue, held by the Republic of Korea and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on the sidelines of the Asian Games closing ceremony in Incheon, UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson Stйphane Dujarric said. It is encouraging that the sides agreed to hold another round of high-level talks soon, he added.

The UN Secretary-General has repeatedly said that dialogue is the only way of settling all outstanding issues, Dujarric said. According to him, Ban Ki-moon hopes that all the parties concerned will promote the efforts for a peaceful and nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

South Korea and North Korea agreed to hold a new round of high-level consultations in late October - early November. The agreement was reached at negotiations between officials of the North and South in the South Korean city of Incheon where a high-ranking DPRK military-party delegation led by Hwang Pyong So, the top political officer for the Korean People's Army (KPA), arrived to attend the closing ceremony of the 17th Asian Games.

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Seoul to help Pyongyang attract foreign investment if it gives up nuclear ambitions

Hwang is considered by outside analysts to be North Korea's second most important official after supreme leader Kim Jong Un. Hwang is also a vice chairman of the powerful National Defence Commission and a vice marshal of the army. Hwang and his delegation had a closed-door lunch meeting with South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae and national security director Kim Kwan-jin.

Last week, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong from the UN General Assembly rostrum called for reunification of the two Koreas according to the confederation formula, proposed by Kim Il Sung in the late 1980s. This is the only way to prevent war and guarantee peace, the minister said.

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North Korea United Nations South Korea Ban Ki-moon

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