South Korea's unification minister, who is in charge of ties with North Korea, said Monday inter-Korean relations have a "long way to go," as Pyongyang has effectively shunned Seoul amid stalled diplomacy on the North's denuclearization.

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended their second summit in February in Hanoi without an agreement, putting future diplomacy on the North's nuclear program into question. 

Since then, exchanges between Seoul and Pyongyang have cooled, with North Korea calling for South Korea to take more measures to improve relations. The U.S. has urged South Korea to adjust its pace of reconciliation with the North, citing little progress on Pyongyang's denuclearization.

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul told a meeting with Korean journalists based overseas that inter-Korean relations have a "long way to go and many tasks, but it is a path that we should take."

Kim also repeated that South Korea will forge ahead with its goal of establishing peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.

Last Saturday, South Korea held an event that marked the first anniversary of last April's summit between President Moon Jae-in and Kim, but North Korean officials did not attend the event.

During the April summit at the border village of Panmunjom, Moon and Kim agreed to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and improve inter-Korean relations by easing military tensions and expanding cross-border exchanges. (Yonhap)