Former President Roh Moo-hyun has stressed that the unification of the two Koreas cannot be achieved without first realizing peace.

Roh said Seoul should place top priority on establishing peace, calling for fundamental changes to Seoul’s policies toward North Korea.

Roh made the statement during a ceremony in Seoul Wednesday marking the first anniversary of an inter-Korean summit declaration signed on October fourth of last year. Some 300 officials that had accompanied Roh to Pyongyang last year were present at the ceremony.

Roh stressed that the realization of peace had been considered an integral part of the process toward unification.

Roh said the October 4th inter-Korean summit declaration has no ideological or political inclinations and only contains practical content. However, he said the Lee Myung-bak government has put South-North ties back into a strained state by showing disregard for the agreement.