The Republic of Korea's President Moon Jae-in speaks at the National Assembly in Seoul on Oct 28, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK)’s President Moon Jae-in said on Friday that his country will never stop efforts for the denuclearization of and the peace settlement in the Korean Peninsula.

"(South) Korea will never cease its efforts to end the (Korean) War for good, achieve denuclearization, and establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula," Moon said in a prerecorded keynote speech delivered at the Jeju Forum 2020, according to the presidential Blue House.

The Jeju Forum is an annually-held international peace forum at the country's southern resort island of Jeju.

"Even though the Armistice Agreement was signed, without a peace treaty in place, the Korean War has not ended yet, and neither has the pain and sorrow of the War," Moon noted.

The peninsula remains in a technical state of war as the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. Moon has sought a political declaration to end the Korean War

ALSO READ: ROK's top diplomat to visit US amid election uncertainty

The peninsula remains in a technical state of war as the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. Moon has sought a political declaration to end the Korean War.

"I want to stress once again that peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia as a whole cannot be achieved without peace on the Korean Peninsula," Moon said.

Suh Hoon, top national security adviser for Moon, virtually consulted with his US and Japanese counterparts, Robert O'Brien and Shigeru Kitamura, on various security issues, the presidential Blue House said Friday.

During the virtual consultation, the top security officials discussed various issues, including the denuclearization of and the peace settlement in the Korean Peninsula, agreeing to continue relevant cooperation among the three sides, according to the presidential Blue House.

They shared the assessment of recent security situations on the peninsula and discussed ways to "engage with" the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for dialogue resumption.

Denuclearization talks between the DPRK and the United States have been stalled since the second summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump ended without agreement at the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi in February 2019.

READ MORE: ROK military: DPRK man who crossed border wants to defect

Moon also reiterated his call to launch a "Northeast Asia cooperation initiative for infectious disease control and public health," which he advocated at the United Nations General Assembly in September to involve countries in the region as well as ROK and the DPRK.

"Having gone through human-to-human and domestic animal infectious diseases and natural disaster together, the South and the North (DPRK) have been repeatedly reminded that the two are a single community of life and safety," Moon noted.

He added that the initiative would "save lives and protect safety of all and pave the path toward peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia and beyond."