President Moon requests U.N. role in building peace with North Korea

SEOUL, May 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday requested the U.N.'s role in verifying North Korea's commitment to denuclearization and peace on the peninsula, his office announced Tuesday. He delivered the message to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in their 30-minute phone conversation, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom. The president was referring to Pyongyang's promise to close down its main nuclear testing site in Kilju, North Hamgyeong Province, where the secretive nation detonated six nuclear bombs. Moon asked the U.N. to monitor the implementation of his summit deal with the North's leader Kim Jong-un last week to turn the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into a genuine peace belt. In the Panmunjom talks with Moon, Kim said his regime will deactivate the nuclear facilities in the northeastern region in May and invite South Korean and U.S. journalists and experts to come along and make sure that it's really happening. Moon was also quoted as telling the U.N. leader, "I would like the U.N. to issue a declaration to support the Panmunjom Declaration via the General Assembly or the Security Council." The U.N. chief responded he's willing to cooperate on the issue as he hopes to help efforts to make peace take root in Korea, Kim said. He added he would assign a U.N. disarmament official to work with Seoul on the matter. lcd@yna.co.kr (END)