UN chief: Diplomacy is 'only pathway' to lasting peace on Korean Peninsula
CGTN
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visits the Ark of Return, a memorial to slavery, at the UN Headquarters in New York, March 9, 2020. /Getty Images

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visits the Ark of Return, a memorial to slavery, at the UN Headquarters in New York, March 9, 2020. /Getty Images

Diplomacy is the "only pathway" to sustainable peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday, Yonhap News Agency reported. 

In an online message to the annual Korean Global Forum for Peace hosted by the unification ministry of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Guterres urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the ROK and the United States to restart diplomatic efforts and resume their stalled dialogue. 

"In 2018, leaders of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, and the United States showed that dialogue is possible and that diplomacy is the only pathway to sustainable peace and denuclearization," he said. 

The year of 2018 witnessed de-escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and ROK President Moon Jae-in met three times in April, May and September. Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump held a historic summit in Singapore on June 12. 

However, nuclear talks have largely stalled since the second Trump-Kim summit collapsed without a deal in Vietnam's Hanoi in February 2019. 

The DPRK blew up a joint liaison office with the ROK in its border town of Kaesong this June, marking a significant deterioration in inter-Korean relations.

U.S. President Donald Trump (R2) and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (L2) sign a joint statement during their summit in Singapore, June 12, 2018. /Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump (R2) and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (L2) sign a joint statement during their summit in Singapore, June 12, 2018. /Getty Images

"It is important for the parties to continue what they started. The international community is eager to see progress," Guterres told the forum. 

"You have our solidarity as the Korean Peninsula faces the pandemic, floods and typhoons. It is crucial that the two Koreas address these and other challenges together," he said. "I encourage you, through this important forum, to imagine a future of peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula."

'Complete, verifiable and irreversible peace'

ROK Unification Minister Lee In-young said at the forum that mutually beneficial inter-Korean relations will help move the stalled denuclearization talks forward. 

"The South and the North will find the possibility of living together in a single community again through mutually beneficial cooperation," Lee said. "I believe that would accelerate progress in the peace process on the Korean Peninsula and a big trend of dialogue on denuclearization between the North and the U.S." 

Seoul has been keen on enhancing economic cooperation with Pyongyang, but progress has been very limited due to the deadlock in talks between Pyongyang and Washington over denuclearization and sanctions relief.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (R) walks with ROK President Moon Jae-in during a visit to Samjiyon guesthouse in Samjiyon, DPRK, September 20, 2018. /Getty Images

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (R) walks with ROK President Moon Jae-in during a visit to Samjiyon guesthouse in Samjiyon, DPRK, September 20, 2018. /Getty Images

The U.S. demands a "complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization (CVID)" of the DPRK before easing sanctions against it. On the other hand, the DPRK prefers a step-by-step disarmament process with reciprocal concessions and benefits from the U.S. for each of its denuclearization steps. 

In an apparent reference to Washington's CVID approach, Lee called for efforts to achieve "complete, verifiable and irreversible peace" on the peninsula. 

"We should open the era of complete, verifiable and irreversible peace, with the two Koreas taking the lead in cooperation with the international community," he said. "We hope that the North will respond to this new start."

China has repeatedly called on the U.S. and the DPRK to take phased steps toward denuclearization and meet each other halfway.