SEOUL, July 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Friday that the Korean Peninsula's complete denuclearization has just entered an initial stage though the path toward peace could face many difficulties.

Lee said at a peace forum in Seoul that complete denuclearization and peace settlement on the peninsula, confirmed at the summits between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and between the DPRK and the United States, have just entered an initial stage.

He said the path toward the peninsula's peace could face difficulties several times going forward, expressing worry that every time it faces difficulties, the press could show impatience and provoke public anxiety as seen in the past.

His comments came after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang last weekend.

Hours after Pompeo left Pyongyang, the DPRK's foreign ministry said in a statement that while the DPRK asked for simultaneous moves on formally declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War and the denuclearization, the U.S. side only insisted that the DPRK take steps for the comprehensive, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID).

Regarding the tug-of-war in negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington over the denuclearization process, controversy and skepticism emerged especially from local and U.S. media outlets.

Despite any difficulty, the prime minister said, South Korea and the DPRK must not, and would never, return to the past in which the two sides worried about war and faced endless confrontations.

Lee said more wisdom, courage and patience will be required going forward in the path to the denuclearization.