South Korea's unification minister urged North Korea to resume cross-border cooperation, saying mutually beneficial inter-Korean cooperation could accelerate denuclearization dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

In his opening remarks at the Korean Global Forum for Peace hosted by his ministry on Monday, Unification Minister Lee In-young vowed to take small steps to resume humanitarian and other cooperation, as well as dialogue with the North.

Areas of possible cross-border cooperation mentioned were health care, quarantine and climate change, as Lee quoted former Chancellor of West Germany Willy Brandt, who said "small steps are better than no steps at all."

Lee then called for an era of "complete, verifiable, irreversible peace(CVIP)" led by the two Koreas and supported by the international community, expressing hopes for a response from the North.

Recognizing current challenges on the Korean Peninsula, including the stalled denuclearization talks, frayed inter-Korean ties and the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister called for a more proactive approach to seek change.