SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Lawmakers of South Korea's ruling Democratic Party on Thursday stressed the importance for dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.
The emphasis on the peaceful resolution through dialogue came as the parliamentary inspection of the government kicked off. The first inspection session under the Moon Jae-in administration, which was inaugurated in May, would last for about three weeks.
Rep. Shim Jae-kwon of the Democratic Party, who serves in the parliamentary committee of foreign affairs and re-unification, said in a press release that though sanctions and pressure are a necessary tool to deal with the nuclear and missile technologies of the DPRK, its eventual objective should be dialogue and negotiations.
Shim, the head of the committee, said inter-Korean dialogue would be needed at any cost, emphasizing the urgency in the restored hot line between South Korea and the DPRK under the current situations that tensions escalated on the peninsula.
Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the governing party said talks with the DPRK should start before the country completes the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the United States, which he claimed would be a "game changer."
The Moon administration had proposed to the DPRK holding military talks to prevent possible accidental conflicts near the inter-Korean border as well as dialogue to resolve humanitarian issues, but Pyongyang has been mum on the proposals.
