South Korea has renewed efforts to ease tensions with North Korea, with President Lee Jae Myung calling for direct talks aimed at formally ending the Korean War, which has remained technically unresolved since the 1953 armistice.
Lee proposed a new security arrangement to prevent clashes along the countries’ de-facto border, the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), while also offering discussions on practical steps to stop the continued development of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.
“Let us put down our intentions to threaten each other and begin discussions to end the long-running war as the directly involved parties,” Lee said during a ceremony marking Liberation Day, which commemorates the Korean Peninsula’s liberation from Japanese rule.
The South Korean president said he hoped the two countries could move towards peaceful coexistence and closer cooperation after decades of hostility.
Lee expressed hope that the two nations “will sit face-to-face for peaceful coexistence and mutual growth”, saying such talks could also provide a platform to explore “effective ways to halt the advancement of the North's nuclear capabilities”.
The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two countries technically still at war. Although major fighting stopped, tensions have continued along the heavily guarded DMZ, with the two sides repeatedly accusing each other of provocations.
In recent years, the tensions have included incidents involving balloons carrying rubbish and propaganda across the border, adding to the long-running strain between Seoul and Pyongyang.
Lee, who took office last year after his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached over an attempt to declare martial law, has worked to improve relations with North Korea and its ally China following a period of strained ties under Yoon.
A major challenge in any renewed engagement remains North Korea’s nuclear programme. Pyongyang declared itself a nuclear power in 2022 and has repeatedly said it will not give up its nuclear weapons.
North Korea is believed to have dozens of nuclear warheads, while Lee has previously said the country was producing between 15 and 20 additional warheads each year.
Last year, Lee told the BBC that he would support a possible agreement between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to freeze the production of nuclear weapons. He described such a move as a realistic target, even as Seoul continued to call for the complete denuclearisation of North Korea.
Trump remains the only Western leader to have held meetings with Kim, with the two leaders meeting during Trump's first term in office. Since returning to the White House, Trump has focused his attention on other regions but said last August that he hoped to meet Kim again when “appropriate”.
North Korea has not yet responded to Lee’s latest proposal for talks. Its state news agency instead reported on Kim’s participation in the country’s own Liberation Day commemorations, where he took part in a wreath-laying ceremony and reviewed a guard of honour.
Pyongyang has previously rejected Lee’s attempts to reopen engagement, while also criticising an agreement involving the United States and South Korea to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.
North Korea has also condemned joint military exercises conducted by the two allies, which it has long viewed as a threat to its security.
Despite Seoul’s latest call for dialogue, tensions remain high. North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Tuesday, marking what was described as the 11th suspected missile test by Pyongyang this year.
The launch came only days before a planned joint military exercise involving US and South Korean forces, highlighting the difficult security environment surrounding Lee’s push for renewed dialogue and a formal end to the long-running conflict.