The statement said that the south-north relations based on reconciliation and cooperation are the only way for achieving peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.

At the outset of the New Year, the north proposed wide-ranging dialogue and negotiations between the south and the north, the statement noted, and continued:

The "government" should take this as an opportunity of achieving national reconciliation and peace and not refuse to come out for dialogue, putting conditionality on the proposal of the north.

Underscoring the need for the south and the north to pave a wide avenue of peace and prosperity through positive negotiations, the statement called for restoring multi-faceted dialogue and exchange not only between the authorities but between political parties and civic and public organizations.

The People for Achieving Peace and Reunification of south Korea at a press conference in Seoul on Jan. 5 urged the U.S. and south Korean authorities to come out for dialogue and negotiations for achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula.