South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday he is ready to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un under the "right conditions," stressing Seoul does not wish to force a regime change or unification.

In a speech hosted by the Korber Foundation in Berlin, Germany on Thursday, the South Korean president also proposed holding a new round of reunions of separated families on October 4, which coincides with the Chuseok holiday and the 10th anniversary of a landmark peace declaration of the two Koreas. In another overture, he invited the North to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang which is just seven months away.

"When the right conditions are fostered and when there is a chance to reverse the current tension and situation of confrontation on the Korean Peninsula, I am ready to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at any time and any place," Moon said.

During a 20-minute speech, Moon laid out the policy directions for achieving permanent peace on the Korean peninsula amid heightened international and regional tensions after Pyongyang’s test of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday.

Moon said the North was “disappointing and wrong” by defying international warnings and going through a missile provocation that is a clear violation of the UN Security Council’s Resolution.

By Kang Gye-man and Chung Seok-hwan

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]