South Korea’s National Assembly speaker requested international support this week for an inter-Korean parliamentary conference, while repeating Seoul’s stance that it does not pursue “unification by absorption.”

During a visit to Austria for the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, Park Byeong-seug advocated hosting inter-Korean dialogue between the two Koreas’ parliaments “without any conditions,” asking for Vienna’s support for the idea.

“South Korea has no intention to pursue unification by absorption with the North,” Park told President of the Austrian National Council Wolfgang Sobotka, according to a National Assembly press release. “The goal is to achieve peace