The head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization welcomed South Korean President Moon Jae-in's recent proposal to inscribe the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas on the list of UN-designated world heritage sites, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.

Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO, made the remark during talks with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday (US time), the ministry said in a release. 

UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay (AP)

Moon said in his speech to the UN gathering the previous day that his government wants to jointly push with North Korea for the designation in a bid to transform the border area into "an international peace zone."

Welcoming the president's idea, Azoulay told Kang that UNESCO fully supports the move and pledged to work with Seoul on the envisioned plan.

Kang, in response, spoke of UNESCO's objective and its fair operation of the world heritage system, and she called for attention to be paid to ensuring the continued implementation of the system.

During the talks, they also discussed ways to cooperate in efforts toward peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, as well as other matters such as drafting ethical standards for Artificial Intelligence, the ministry added. (Yonhap)