South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday promised to work with the United Nations to completely denuclearize communist North Korea, the presidential office said.

   Moon's remarks came in a telephone conversation with U.N.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called the new South Korean leader to congratulate him on his recent election.

   "President Moon thanked U.N. Secretary-Genera Guterres for denouncing North Korea's May 14 missile launch and urging the North to fulfill its international duties," presidential office spokesman Park Soo-hyun told a press briefing.

   "I, too, plan to work with the international community to resolutely and fundamentally denuclearize North Korea through all available means, including sanctions and dialogue," the president was quoted as telling the U.N. chief.

   Guterres, emphasizing his experience from a 1989 trip to the reclusive North, stressed the need to maintain peace at any cost.

   "An armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula must be prevented no matter how great a cost must be paid," he said, according to the presidential spokesman. (Yonhap)