North Korea on Monday renewed its call on South Korea to implement an inter-Korean summit agreement from 2000, saying it will help improve their relations and lead to peace on the divided peninsula.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency called the joint declaration signed on June 15, 2000, following the first inter-Korean summit, “the foundation of national reconciliation and unity and the starting point of solving the issue of the North-South relations.”

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North‘s ruling Workers’ Party, made similar points last week.

“Its validity and vitality as the great program for reunification common to all Koreans were already proved in practice,” the KCNA‘s English-language report said. “To implement the June 15 joint declaration is just the way for mending the North-South relations and achieving peace and prosperity.”

The KCNA fired shots at the liberal Moon Jae-in administration in Seoul, saying it was following the US moves to “stifle” the North while speaking of improving inter-Korean relations.

“It is doing such a stupid act, oblivious of the lesson taught by history,” the report added. “Its succession to the anachronistic confrontation policy against the nation will only make it face stern punishment by the public like the conservative group.”

In addition to the 2000 agreement, the Koreas also signed a declaration after their second summit in October 2007. They outlined bilateral agreements to reduce military tensions, bolster exchanges and cooperation, and promote mutual reconciliation.

Over the ensuing years, though, inter-Korean exchanges came to a halt amid Pyongyang’s relentless provocations.

Moon, who took office a month ago, has vowed to take a dual-track approach toward denuclearizing North Korea, with an emphasis being placed not only on guarding against further provocations but finding middle ground through inter-Korean dialogue and civilian exchanges. (Yonhap)