North Korea on Saturday stressed the need to implement the agreements from the latest inter-Korean summit regardless of changes in conditions, an apparent call for South Korea to improve its ties with the communist state even if its ongoing denuclearization talks fail.

"Fundamentally improving the North-South relations and achieving peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula by thoroughly implementing the historic Panmunjom Declaration is becoming an important task," the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a signed commentary.

The Panmunjom Declaration is a joint statement issued by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the end of their April 27 summit in the border village of Panmunjom.

In that joint statement, the leaders of the two Koreas agreed to pursue the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to greatly improve their bilateral ties.

The North insisted the agreements must be carried out regardless of any changes or even deterioration in conditions surrounding the divided Koreas.

"The Panmunjom Declaration must be consistently implemented by the North and the South regardless of any fluctuation in the situation or surrounding conditions and the North and the South must hold their hands to take the lead in creating conditions and environment favorable to the implementation of the declaration," KCNA said.

The commentary comes as the North Korean leader is set to meet with U.S. Trump Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12. Many believe the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit, if held successfully, could mark the start of Pyongyang moving away from international sanctions and pressure, but that a failure could mean further isolation of the already impoverished North.

"Sustainable development of the North-South relations, along with peace, prosperity and unification of the Koreas lie in fully implementing the Panmunjom Declaration," the North's official news agency said. (Yonhap)