President Moon Jae-in speaks during a weekly meeting with senior Cheong Wa Dae aides, Monday. Yonhap

President Moon Jae-in called on North Korea on Monday not to stop a peace journey despite some troubles, making his first official remarks on North Korea's renewed saber-rattling.

"The direction the two Koreas should go together is clear," he said during a weekly meeting with senior Cheong Wa Dae aides. "We should not stop the current inter-Korean relations again, which have overcome a longtime severance and the crisis of a war with difficulty."

He was speaking in front of pool reporters and TV crews, as the two sides marked the 20th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration adopted in a historic summit between the late leaders of the two Koreas -- Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il.

Moon said he's commemorating the anniversary with a "heavy heart," apparently referring to frosty inter-Korean ties highlighted by Pyongyang's decision to cut all communication lines with Seoul and even a threat of military action.

Moon cited his own summit deals with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2018, one reached at the truce village of Panmunjom and the other in Pyongyang.