Referring to the fact that the joint declaration adopted in the historic north-south summit meeting on June 15, 2000, is a milestone of national reunification, the statement said that it serves as an immortal banner as it dynamically arouses all the Koreans to the efforts for carving out the destiny of the nation and realizing the cause of reunification.

Thanks to the adoption of the June 15 joint declaration the inter-Korean relations characterized by distrust and confrontation, which had persisted for more than half a century, have turned into those of reconciliation, unity and cooperation and a new era of "By our nation itself" and a fresh history of independent reunification were ushered in this land, the statement noted, and went on:

Great progress has been made in the movement for national reunification and in the inter-Korean relations amid the warm enthusiasm of the whole nation for reunification and the meeting of the top leaders of the north and the south was provided again in October 2007, in particular, which adopted the October 4 declaration, a programme for implementing the June 15 joint declaration, opening a new prospect for reunification.

The dynamic advance of the independent reunification movement under the banner of "By our nation itself" faced a serious obstacle after the emergence of the Lee Myung Bak regime in south Korea.

The grave circumstance prevailing in the Korean Peninsula clearly shows once again that peace and reunification of the country can be attained only when a do-or-die struggle is conducted against the confrontation and war moves of the anti-reunification forces, internal and external.

The statement warmly called upon all the Koreans at home and abroad to thoroughly preserve and implement the historic inter-Korean declarations, united close as one under the banner of "By our nation itself," and thus open a decisive phase for the country's reunification.