The statement said that the joint New Year editorial is powerfully encouraging not only all Koreans at home but also Chongryon and compatriots in Japan in their nationwide struggle for glorifying another decade of the 21st century as a decade of putting an end to the tragedy of national split and achieving reunification and prosperity.

Chongryon and the Koreans in Japan unequivocally support and hail the joint statement which contained a proposal for having wide-ranging dialogue and negotiations with the political parties and organizations including the authorities of south Korea, the statement noted.

It demanded the south Korean authorities give up at once sycophancy toward the U.S. and confrontation with fellow countrymen aimed at bringing misfortune, sufferings and war disasters to all the fellow countrymen, and urged all the political parties and organizations of south Korea to positively respond to the important proposal from the stand of protecting the interests of the nation.

It called upon Chongryon and Koreans from all walks of life in Japan including those affiliated to the south Korean Residents Association in Japan to support the joint statement and turn out as one in the struggle to open an epochal phase of peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula.