Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun, head of the DPRK delegation, said this, when addressing the 18th Ministerial Meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum on July 23.

He estimated the ASEAN Regional Forum for having made a positive contribution to the regional peace, security and prosperity on the principles of respect for sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs and equality and ASEAN for playing a leading role in the activities of the Forum suited to the multifaceted structure of the regional security and cooperation and its growing scope.

The issue of the Korean Peninsula is one of the major concerns of the ASEAN Regional Forum, he said.

The national division forced by foreign forces and the ceasefire have lasted in Korea for more than half a century and the dangerous situation on the brink of war is prevailing there periodically, he said, and went on:

What is most urgently required by the DPRK and its people is a stable and peaceful environment as they are focusing all efforts on economic construction.

The prevailing situation is not only gravely threatening the sovereignty and security of the DPRK but hamstringing its people's efforts for peaceful development in every way.

But for the Songun politics pursued by leader Kim Jong Il and the powerful war deterrent of the DPRK, the peninsula would have turned into battle fields several times and the regional peace would have been totally wrecked.

It is the consistent stand of the DPRK government to guarantee the peace and stability in the peninsula and push forward its denuclearization through dialogue and negotiations.

The present situation in the peninsula now standing on the crossroads of detente and the vicious cycle of escalating tension requires the parties concerned to make the best use of opportunity of dialogue and make a bold decision to settle the fundamental issue.

Underlying the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, the situation used to reach an explosive point periodically and the ever-escalating tension are the hostile relations between the DPRK and the U.S. which breed distrust and confrontation.

Mutual distrust can never be removed and the process of denuclearization can hardly make smooth progress as long as there remain the hostile relations in which the DPRK and the U.S., the signatories to the armistice agreement, are standing in confrontation with arms. This is the lesson taught by the course of the six-party talks which repeated setbacks and failures.

The proposal for concluding a peace agreement already advanced by the DPRK last year is the most effective step for confidence building as it helps wipe out the distrust between the DPRK and the U.S. and, furthermore, a powerful engine providing a guarantee for realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

We are convinced that to strive to conclude a peace agreement is a right orientation both in view of the special security situation on the peninsula and in the light of the defense of the regional peace and security.

The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula stipulated in the September 19, 2005 joint statement is a process of turning the whole peninsula into a nuclear-free zone on the basis of totally defusing the substantial nuclear threat to the peninsula from outside in a verifiable manner.

The U.S. is the main party responsible and capable of removing the root cause of the nuclear issue on the peninsula as it was spawned by the U.S. hostile policy and nuclear war threat to the DPRK from A to Z.

It is self-evident that to discuss the denuclearization issue in the absence of the main party concerned while distorting the essence of the issue would only lay an artificial hurdle in the way of settling the issue and this cannot be a genuine dialogue.

The U.S. and the south Korean authorities are, however, reacting to the sincere proposals of the DPRK on building confidence through dialogue and negotiations and its efforts to resume the six-party talks with confrontation moves and military provocations. Yet, they are spreading misinformation that the DPRK is to blame for the tensions and the failure to open dialogue.

Now that the international community is unanimous in expressing deep concern over the tense situation on the peninsula, the joint military exercises being staged by them in south Korea with huge nuclear attack means involved cannot but be provocations and blatant provocations in view of their purpose and nature of coping with someone's "contingency."

After the present south Korean authorities came to power, the implementation of the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration warmly hailed and supported by all the fellow countrymen and the international community was totally suspended, the inter-Korean relations were extremely deteriorated and an atmosphere of a war against fellow countrymen is running higher. All their hostile acts against the DPRK have recently gone beyond such tolerance limit that they went the lengths of perpetrating the hideous provocations: They hurt the dignity of the leadership of the DPRK and its inviolable system. All facts go to clearly prove who truly wants dialogue and peace and who incites confrontation and war atmosphere on the peninsula.