We begin this morning with the South Korean leader's address to the UN General Assembly.<br />President Moon Jae-in told the gathering of world leaders on Tuesday of his ambitious proposal to turn the heavily-fortified Demilitarized Zone into an international peace zone. <br />He also said his roadmap for the future of inter-Korean relations could open up a new era of lasting peace of the peninsula.<br />Our Shin Se-min reports from New York. <br /> Turning the thin strip of land -- a place that is dotted with some 380-thousand landmines -- into an area of peace and reconciliation with the help of the international community.<br /> President Moon Jae-in, standing before the delegations gathered at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, proposed remodeling the Demilitarized Zone into an international peace zone. <br /><br />“If the DMZ becomes home to UN offices already stationed in the two Koreas as well as other international organizations related to peace, ecology and culture it will become a center for research on peace, peacekeeping, arms control and trust building. It can become an international peace zone in name as well as substance.”<br /><br />The South Korean leader even hinted at designating the DMZ as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. <br />Such proposals are an extension to the promise already made by President Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their summit in April last year. <br />Stressing it will take South Korean troops alone 15 years to remove anti-personnel mines from the DMZ, President Moon called for international support and for other countries to be more accommodating to the North, if it takes steps worthy of reward.<br /><br />“If North Korea makes sincere efforts to implement denuclearization, the international community should also reciprocate.”<br /><br /> President Moon also revisited the three essential principles that he sees as the keys to lasting peace.<br />One, zero tolerance for war. Two, a mutual security guarantee, and three, co-prosperity.<br />And he stressed that his administration is in favor of offering Pyeongyang the security guarantees it so desperately seeks. <br /><br />“When the security of both sides is assured, it will become possible to accelerate denuclearization and the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. ”<br /><br />"By bringing in the international community into the Korean peace process action plan, the President is hoping to assure North Korea of its security guarantees,... and give a much needed boost in the peninsula's denuclearization drive.<br />Shin Se-min, Arirang News, New York."<br />
