The appeal said that it was fortunate, indeed, that the danger of war in which fire was returned for fire last year was defused temporarily thanks to the DPRK's positive efforts but this danger still persists.

Endless outbursts inciting confrontation with the other side are heard from the south and ceaseless north-targeted saber-rattling is going on there, the appeal noted, and continued:

Dialogue and negotiations are the only way for averting a war, defusing confrontation and improving the inter-Korean relations.

What is essential in the inter-Korean dialogue is dialogue between the authorities with real power and responsibility. A lot of important matters related to the vital interests between the north and the south await solutions and most of them should be settled by the authorities.

Environment for dialogue and negotiations has already been created and their doors remain open to them to sit at a negotiating table to have a candid discussion.

There is no reason for the south Korean authorities to refuse to respond to the DPRK's proposal for wide-ranging dialogue.

We appeal to the south Korean authorities to discard useless misgivings and prejudice and honestly come out for all the proposed north-south dialogues without delay and any condition.

We courteously call upon the politicians in the north and the south to actively conduct bilateral and multilateral negotiations to fulfill their mission and duty before the times and the nation.

We propose contact and negotiations between lawmakers of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK and the National Assembly of south Korea to settle the grave situation prevailing between the north and the south and seek the way for the nation to follow.

The south Korean authorities should not block but actively encourage free visit, contact and cooperation between personages of various circles of the north and the south including politicians, businessmen, religionists and media persons.

All the Koreans in the north and the south and overseas should turn out to resolutely frustrate the moves of the warlike forces at home and abroad to ignite a war, a threat to the security and peace of the nation.

The U.S. is chiefly to blame for the present tragedy of the Korean nation.

If the U.S. government truly stands for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, it should not instigate the south Korean authorities to escalate confrontation but refrain from acts of deepening the mistrust between the north and the south and increasing the danger of war on the peninsula.

It is necessary to vehemently repudiate the evermore undisguised military nexus among south Korea, the U.S. and Japan and shatter the moves of the Japanese militarists to stage a comeback to Korea.

We call upon all the countries concerned and the peace-loving people of the world to pay deep attention to the situation on the peninsula and extend unreserved support to the joint statement of the government, political parties and organizations of the DPRK and the positive measures taken to put it into practice.