Dalai Lama congratulates Korean leaders, bats for peace in Korean Peninsula
DHARAMSALA, April 30: His Holiness the Dalai Lama has congratulated the leaders of both North and South Korea for the historic inter-Korean summit where they pledged for peace and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The Tibetan spiritual leader has written separately to Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in, the leaders of the two countries, to congratulate them on the pledge they made at the historic summit to work to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons and turn the armistice that ended the Korean War into a peace treaty this year, dalailama.com, the official website of the Office of the Dalai Lama reported.
“As an avowed campaigner for demilitarization throughout the world and the complete elimination of all nuclear weapons, I wholeheartedly welcome the outcome of your discussions to secure lasting peace on the Korean peninsula,” the Dalai Lama said in the report.
Calling the immense suffering being caused by the war and violence across many parts of the world as deeply depressing, the Tibetan Nobel laureate applauded the Korean leaders for taking a genuinely peaceful approach and entering into dialogue, the way forward for friendship, trust and peace.
“I profoundly hope these positive developments will contribute to concerted efforts to do away with these dreadful weapons everywhere and secure genuine and enduring peace in our world,” the Dalai Lama said and added that he is sure the international community will support their effort for peace and friendship.
The inter-Korean summit on April 27 is only the third time the leaders from the two countries have met and the first since Kim took power in 2011 after the death of his father.
It was also the first top-level summit held outside Pyongyang, the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in a decade and only the second time that Kim met with another head of state.
The Koreans signed the ‘Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification on the Korean Peninsula’ at the summit which commits the two countries to denuclearization and talks to bring a formal end to conflict.