The Unification Ministry said Wednesday that the government respects all inter-Korean agreements and will continue to exert best efforts to implement them.
 
The ministry’s deputy spokeswoman, Park Soo-jin, made the remark during a regular news briefing on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the June 15th South-North Joint Declaration.
 
Park said that North Korea must stop its reckless provocations and abandon its nuclear ambitions. The spokeswoman said that the North, instead, should take the path toward improving its ties with South Korea and seek a peaceful unification on the Korean Peninsula by opting for change.
 
However, she said that the North is continuously engaging in nuclear weapons development and provocations despite the South’s support and cooperation, hampering inter-Korean relations and efforts to establish peace on the peninsula. She said that with such moves, the North is destroying the fundamental spirit of the June 15th declaration.
 
Park said that currently, the government is closely working with the international community to address the North’s nuclear issue while focusing on applying strong and effective sanctions on the North. She said now is not appropriate to discuss the issue of resuming operations of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.