The keynote of the declaration is that the Korean nation is responsible for Korea's reunification and the issue of national reunification should be settled independently by the Korean nation itself.

The joint declaration had enjoyed full support at home and abroad soon after its publication.

With its publication, brisk dialogues and contacts began to resume between the north and the south of Korea and their relationship turned into that of reconciliation and cooperation from distrust and confrontation.

Roads and railways which had been severed between the north and the south for more than half a century were reconnected while air and sea routes opened to service. Meanwhile, a series of joint reunification-related events took place in the north and the south.

Afterwards, the October 4 Declaration was adopted as an action programme for implementing the June 15 Joint Declaration, giving greater hope and confidence in reaunification to the entire nation

But the Lee Myung Bak regime that emerged in south Korea later had totally negated those joint declarations, bringing the north-south relations to a rupture.

The facts go to clearly prove that implementation of the joint declarations is the only way for improving the north-south relations and ensuring peace of the Korean Peninsula and co-prosperity of the nation.

It is the cherished desire of all Koreans to achieve the country independently and peacefully by their concerted efforts while rejecting outsiders' intervention.

If the present south Korean authorities truly want detente and improved north-south relations, they should take practical steps to implement the June 15 Joint Declaration and the October 4 Declaration.

All Koreans will surely usher in a new era of independent reunification, united under the banner of "By our nation itself", the idea of the June 15 Joint Declatation.