Five middle-power countries welcome Olympics-driven peace efforts

SEOUL, March 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and its four middle-power partners issued a statement Sunday welcoming the revived peace efforts driven by the PyeongChang Winter Games.

The foreign ministers of MIKTA, a cross-regional cooperative forum of South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey and Australia, also celebrated the success of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games brought together the global community comprising a record number of 92 countries, including the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The success of the two events showcased sportsmanship and solidarity to the world," read the joint statement issued on the final day of the Paralympic Games.

They welcomed the recent developments on the Korean Peninsula that occurred on the occasion of the Olympic Games, including the agreement to hold an inter-Korean summit.

The PyeongChang Winter Games have produced a series of inter-Korean meetings since January, when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed an interest in sending a delegation to the Games.

The two Koreas agreed to hold a summit of their leaders in late April. U.S. President Donald Trump also accepted Kim's invitation to meet after a year of heightened tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

"We hope that these developments will bring about positive progress in inter-Korean relations and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and thus contribute to promoting peace and prosperity in the region and beyond," the foreign ministers said.

odissy@yna.co.kr
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