The recent agreement between North and South Korea to reopen a jointly run factory park may be the first step toward building "mutual trust" and resuming regular talks, says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
After months of rising tensions, there has recently been a gradual easing of tensions and dialling down of North Korea's war rhetoric. On Monday, the Kaesong industrial complex reopened after a five-month shutdown triggered by rising animosity between the rivals.
The secretary-general, a former South Korean foreign minister, told reporters he hopes the Kaesong reopening, the possibility of uniting separated families, and other confidence building measures will continue and "will eventually help promote reconciliation."
"I would like to think that inter-Korean relations, after many months of heightened tensions, are finally getting back on track," Ban said.
"It'll be a long process but I'm glad the two sides have begun focusing on points of mutual interest rather than disagreement," he said.
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The secretary-general warned, however, that if media reports that North Korea may have restarted a nuclear reactor capable of producing plutonium are confirmed it would be "a clear violation" of UN Security Council resolutions.
North Korea announced on April 2 it would restart all facilities at Yongbyon, including the reactor mothballed under a six-nation disarmament deal in 2007, to produce energy and bolster its "nuclear armed force."
The US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies said last week that the reactor may have been restarted, pointing to satellite imagery taken on August 31 showing steam rising from a building containing turbines and generators powered by the reactor.
"I remain seriously concerned about the nuclear weapon programs of the DPRK," Ban said, using the initials of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"I call upon the DPRK to demonstrate its commitment to a verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and work toward paving the way for the resumption of the six-party talks," he said.
