South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday called for direct talks with North Korea to formally end the Korean War and explore practical measures to halt the advancement of Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities, renewing Seoul’s push for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula, according to local media reports.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the 81st Liberation Day, which commemorates Korea’s liberation from the Japanese 1910-45 colonial rule, Lee urged North Korea to abandon confrontation and begin negotiations, Yonhap News reported.
“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, adding: “In the process, (we) may also discuss 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 Koreas technically at war.
Lee said his government would seek to replace the “unstable armistice system” with a permanent peace regime, despite Pyongyang’s continued silence toward Seoul’s reconciliation efforts since Lee took office in June last year.
In his Liberation Day speech last year, Lee pledged to respect North Korea’s current system and not to pursue unification by absorption or engage in any hostile acts toward the North.
“I hope South and North Korea will sit face-to-face for peaceful coexistence and mutual growth,” Lee said, calling for reduced hostility in perceptions, norms, and systems.
He also proposed a “multilayered security system” to prevent crises, and pledged “preemptive and consistent measures for peace” based on developments on the peninsula.
“By inducing a positive response from the North, I will create a stable Korean Peninsula,” Lee said, adding that peace could strengthen cooperation across Northeast Asia and contribute to a world without nuclear weapons.
On Japan, Lee praised expanded “shuttle diplomacy,” and said Seoul would deepen cooperation with Tokyo in supply chains, energy, and advanced technologies.