South Korea proposes four-way dialogue for Korean Peninsula peace regime

SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Thursday proposed a four-way dialogue involving South Korea, North Korea, the United States and China to establish a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

Chung made the appeal in his special address at the opening ceremony of the 11th Ulaanbaatar Dialogue in Mongolia, a platform to discuss security and peace cooperation in Northeast Asia.

He stressed the need for the two Koreas to "rebuild the inter-Korean trust and restore peace," proposing that the four-party talks expand over time to include Mongolia, Japan and Russia.

"If those three fronts -- rebuilding inter-Korean trust, institutionalizing a peace regime and advancing multilateral dialogue in Northeast Asia -- move forward all together, we can build a new peaceful order across the region," he said.

Chung also pointed to the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI), an intergovernmental mechanism aimed at turning the Tumen River Basin to a regional hub, as a vehicle for his vision. He cited Arctic sea route cooperation and a high-speed rail link between Seoul and Beijing as potential early projects.

He urged Pyongyang to rejoin the GTI, saying North Korea stood to be "the most beneficiary of this initiative."

Notably, Chung repeatedly referred to North Korea by its official name -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- a departure from past practice in Seoul, which had long avoided the term as it implies the two Koreas are separate sovereign states.

The shift reflects the Lee Jae Myung government's pivot toward peaceful coexistence with the North over unification. At the speech, Chung did not directly mention the "peaceful two states" stance, which the ministry earlier called an implementation strategy for the Lee government's peaceful coexistence policy.

Later in the day, Chung is scheduled to meet with Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh. He will also hold talks with Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg and Culture Minister Jokov Alearjavkhlan to discuss ways to deepen bilateral ties and cooperation, and secure Mongolia's backing for South Korea's peace policies.

Mongolia's diplomatic ties with both Koreas have led many to view it as a possible facilitator of dialogue on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea participated in the event through 2018 but has not attended since 2019, according to the unification ministry.

The two-day forum wraps up Friday, with Chung set to return home Saturday.