It is 10 years since the October 4 declaration was published to display the blueprint for the improvement of inter-Korean relations and peace and prosperity.

The October 4 declaration was a precious gain of the fellow countrymen as it clarified the practical ways for building trust between the north and the south, developing their relations in social, economic, cultural and sports and all other fields and establishing durable peace-keeping mechanism in the Korean peninsula, on the basis of the June 15 Joint Declaration, a historic landmark for reunification, including the issue of removing the legal and institutional barriers causing distrust and confrontation between the two sides.

Had the October 4 declaration been properly carried out, the achievements of the national unity which the fellow countrymen made through exchange of visits would have helped to open up wide the future of peace and prosperity and the Korean nation would have already entered the gateway to the country's reunification.

But for the past decade, the October 4 declaration has not been properly implemented and the precious achievements made by our fellow countrymen at home and abroad with much effort to implement the north-south joint declaration have been ruthlessly undermined.

The north-south relations were totally cut off and the military tension on the Korean peninsula has been ramped up due to outsiders' moves for realizing their hegemony by escalating tension on the peninsula and due to the evil-plagued regime's moves for escalating confrontation with the fellow countrymen in utter disregard of the north-south joint declaration.

The massive candlelight resistance in south Korea resulted in the emergence of a new regime in the south but the road to the improvement of the north-south relations and peace and prosperity is still closed tight as the new regime has not discarded the policy of national division and confrontation which the preceding regimes had pursued.

Although it is the 10th anniversary of the historic October 4 declaration, the north-south ties remain cut off and the military tension on the Korean peninsula has now reached the extremes. The North Side, South Side and Overseas Side Committees for Implementing June 15 Joint Declaration appeal as follows to prevent the growing danger of nuclear war and open up a fresh prospect for the improvement of the north-south relations and peace and prosperity:

The old policy dating back to the confrontation era has to be eliminated in order to recover the relations of mutual respect and trust between the north and the south.

There can not be the recovery of dialogue, cooperation and trust while chiming in the sanctions policy of antagonizing the fellow countrymen.

The nation's issue has to be settled in the spirit of By Our Nation Itself and all legal and institutional barriers inciting division have to be brought down.

The establishment of lasting peace mechanism on the Korean peninsula is a task on which hinges the destiny of the nation.

The recent act of U.S. chief executive Trump who openly called for "totally destroying" the north and the use of military force is a serious insult and defamation against the dignity and future of the Korean nation.

The nation's future can never be carved out with the destiny and interests of the fellow countrymen left to the tender mercy of outsiders.

It is the most important task facing the nation to remove the war system which inflicted pains on the fellow countrymen while being in force for decades, and to build lasting peace mechanism.

All the members of the nation have to turn out in a nationwide drive for defending the nation's wellbeing and the country's peace with sense of mission that they are masters of their own destiny and are responsible for sovereignty and peace.