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South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak delivers the keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue Asia Security Summit in Singapore June 4, 2010. [Agencies] |
SINGAPORE - South Korean President Lee Myung- bak said Friday that his country has formally referred the case of a warship sinking to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
"Today, the Republic of Korea government referred the matter of North Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea)'s attack against the Cheonan to the United Nations Security Council," Lee said while delivering a keynote speech at the 9th International Institute for Strategic Studies Asia Security Summit in Singapore.
Lee urged the DPRK to admit its "wrongdoing, and pledge never again to engage in such reprehensible action".
"The Korean Peninsula must not remain as a place synonymous with conflict, strife and division. It must now become the cradle of peace in Northeast Asia." Lee added.
Lee said peace in the 21st century must not simply mean the absence of violence and war, noting that genuine and lasting peace in this century must be a peace where the causes of conflict are fundamentally addressed.
"We must actively pursue the kind of peace where everyone can realize their vision of a better life, where freedom and liberty is protected and a prosperous future is ensured", he said.
The summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue, is held in Singapore from June 4-6. Delegations from 28 countries and regions, with more than 300 delegates including defense ministers, chiefs of defense staff, and other senior security policy-makers, attended the summit.
On March 26, South Korea's 1,200-ton Navy frigate "Cheonan", with 104 crew members onboard, went down off the South Korean island of Baekryeong off the west coast due to an unexplained explosion that split it into two. Fourty-six sailors were killed.
Seoul said after completing investigations that the warship was torpedoed by the DPRK. But Pyongyang denied its involvement in the incident.