Anchor: In her annual Liberation Day speech on Friday, President Park Geun-hye made a series of proposals to Pyongyang to launch joint projects that would create better understanding between the two Koreas. As the day marked Korea’s liberation in 1945 from 35-years of Japan's colonial rule, the South Korean president also urged Tokyo to resolve the wartime sex slavery issue and restore strained bilateral relations.
Our Kim Bum-soo reports.
 
Report: President Park Geun-hye proposed the two Koreas launch an inter-Korean project to manage mountains and streams across the Korean Peninsula.
 
In her speech Friday marking the 69th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s occupation, Park called for launching small, feasible inter-Korean projects in preparation for the two Koreas' unification. 

[Sound bite: President Park Geun-hye (Korean)]
“I think we should build a channel for environmental cooperation to link and restore the ecologies of the two Koreas. Beginning with the job of jointly managing streams and mountains across the South and North, we must expand cooperation projects that can help each other.”
 
To discuss the envisioned environmental cooperation, the president invited North Korea to the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to be held next month in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
 
She also proposed the two Koreas launch excavation projects for cultural heritages.
 
The president also touched on the possibility of the two Koreas celebrating the 70th Liberation Day, saying it would be meaningful if the two sides prepare for a cultural event for the occasion next year.
 
During her annual speech, the president also pressed Japan to resolve issues related to its wartime wrongdoings committed during its forced occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
 
[Sound bite: President Park Geun-hye (Korean)]
“Some Japanese politicians are dividing the minds of citizens in the two countries and hurting them. The South Korean government has called for a forward-looking measure that is acceptable by the elderly sex slavery victims. Only when such issues are properly resolved, will the two countries be able to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations next year.”
 
She then expressed hope that next year will be the turning point in the relations between the two neighbors.
 
The president also forged a blueprint for the greater Asian region, suggesting a new multilateral framework for nuclear safety led by South Korea, China, Japan, and possibly joined by the U.S., Russia, North Korea and Mongolia.
 
She said multilateral cooperation is necessary for sustainable peace and prosperity in the region.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.