The head of a North Korean delegation visiting South Korea has highlighted the significance of growing inter-Korean ties. 

Ri Jong-hyok, vice chairman of the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee who came to the South on Wednesday with four other North Korean delegates, attended an international forum on peace and prosperity in Asia and the Pacific in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday. 

In a speech at the forum, he said “dramatic change” is unfolding between the two Koreas and urged every country in Asia and the Pacific to actively respond to their joint efforts.

He said the three inter-Korean summits this year and the first U.S.-North Korea summit in June was a declaration heralding an era of peace in the region. 

Ri strongly criticized Japan over its wartime crimes, including forced labor and sexual slavery, saying Japan does not admit to them and is instead creating a social atmosphere that will repeat such wrongs by praising them.