Chung Dong-young, South Korea's Minister of Unification, proposed on Wednesday the pursuit of a "2+1 inter-Korean political dialogue" mediated by the European Union.
Chung made the proposal during a meeting with an EU Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee delegation at the Government Complex Seoul. "We ask the EU to consider a '2+1 inter-Korean political dialogue' mediated by the EU," Chung said.
"The two Koreas are currently trapped in a quagmire of distrust and hostility, with communication completely severed," he said. "The EU's historical experience of overcoming centuries of hostility and achieving integration can serve as an important reference for resolving the Korean Peninsula issue," he added, emphasizing the need for EU mediation.
Chung noted that "Europe formally ended war and institutionalized a peace order through the Potsdam Agreement and the 1947 Paris Peace Treaties after World War II." He added, "In contrast, the Korean Peninsula has yet to complete post-war settlement even 73 years after the 1953 armistice."
"The armistice has persisted across generations," Chung said. "The EU's experience and diplomatic role are urgently needed to transform an unstable peace into a stable and lasting one."