Kim Yong Sul, chairman of the confederation, said in his speech that during the past decade, the validity and vitality of the joint declaration have been strikingly demonstrated, adding the declaration with the idea of "By our nation itself" as its core serves as a milestone of reunification for bringing peace and prosperity to the Korean Peninsula.

The situation on the peninsula is now inching close to the phase of a war owing to the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors' moves to escalate confrontation with the DPRK, he noted.

He called upon overseas compatriots to turn out as one in the struggle to thoroughly preserve and implement the joint declaration.