The U.S. State Department has stressed that progress in inter-Korean relations must keep pace with the denuclearization of North Korea.  

On Thursday, Radio Free Asia quoted a department official as saying that progress in inter-Korean relations must happen in lockstep with progress on denuclearization. The official made the remarks the previous day when asked to comment on the English transcript of the Panmunjeom Declaration, which includes the two Korea's agreement to declare an end to the Korean War within this year. 

South and North Korea jointly submitted the transcript to the UN, requesting the international body to circulate and review it as an official document. 

The department's press office, however, reiterated Washington's principle that efforts to establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula depend on progress in the denuclearization process by North Korea.

[Photo : YONHAP News]