South Korean Prez Lee vows to maintain measures to restore trust with North Korea

Seoul, Sep 18 (IANS) South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Thursday that he will continue to take steps to restore trust with North Korea, despite slim prospects of engagement with the North.

Lee made the remarks in a written address to the Global Korea Forum, delivered by Lim Woong-soon, the second deputy director of the National Security Office, earlier in the day.

"The government has taken actions to ease military tensions and restore inter-Korean trust from the beginning and will consistently maintain this stance," Lee said, Yonhap News Agency reported. "It is time to end the era of confrontation and hostility."

"Among the existing inter-Korean agreements, we will identify items that can be implemented. We will make efforts to create an environment for talks and cooperation," he said.

Although Pyongyang has rejected his peace overtures, Lee said his government will remain patient and establish a system that can practically support peace and coexistence in line with the changing inter-Korean relations and global geopolitical situation.

Earlier on Tuesday, South Korea's Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back said that the government is considering narrowing the distance of the Civilian Control Line (CCL) from the inter-Korean border in order to ease inconveniences faced by residents in border areas.

Ahn made the remarks during a parliamentary interpellation session on foreign affairs and security in the day.

"The Lee Jae Myung government is considering reducing the Civilian Control Line to as little as 5 kilometres from the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), depending on the region," Ahn said.

"This measure is intended to address property losses and daily inconveniences experienced by residents in border areas," he added.

Since the early 1970s, the CCL has been set at varying distances of 27 km, 20 km, 15 km or 10 km south of the MDL that runs through the centre of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).

The DMZ, which stretches about 250 km in length and 4 km in width, has served as a buffer between the two Koreas since the end of the 1950–53 Korean War.

--IANS

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