The statement fully supported the appeal, expressing the will to wage a more dynamic, patriotic movement for reunification to open up a broad avenue to independent reunification this year.

It is a disgrace for the Korean nation that it has suffered unspeakable misfortune and pain as it is not yet free from the tragedy of division that has lasted for seven decades due to the U.S. imperialists, the statement said.

The south Korean authorities should make a bold decision at an early date to take the road of improving the inter-Korean relations and achieving independent reunification, peace and prosperity, away from the conception of confrontation of social systems which will only escalate confrontation and bring war, it stressed.

It demanded the south Korean authorities stop large-scale joint military exercises with foreign forces that hurt the inter-Korean relations, and make positive contact and exchange between the north and the south and thus fully respond to the DPRK's call for making this year a historic year when peace settles on the Korean peninsula free from war games.