Unification Minister Chung Dong-young says he hopes North Korea resumes dialogue by June 15th, the fifth anniversary of the historic inter-Korean summit.

At a local ceremony Friday, he urged the opening of a dialogue channel following the South-North joint declaration reached at the 2000 summit in Pyongyang.

He said the South is ready to talk and cooperate with the North, stressing resumption of inter-Korean dialogue to jointly mark the fifth anniversary of the declaration and the 60th year of national liberation.