South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has proposed talks with North Korea to formally end the Korean War, offering to replace the 1953 armistice with a lasting peace settlement and to discuss ways of halting Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.
Lee made the offer at a ceremony marking Liberation Day, which commemorates the peninsula’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule.
“Let us put down our intentions to threaten each other and begin discussions to end the long-running war as the directly involved parties,” he said. “Through this, it may also be possible to discuss effective measures to halt the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.”
A war that never formally ended
The two Koreas remain technically at war. The 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, and the decades since have brought repeated clashes along the demilitarised zone and mutual accusations of provocation.
Lee also proposed a “multi-layered security system” to prevent flare-ups along the de facto border, and said he hoped the two countries would “sit face-to-face for peaceful coexistence and mutual growth.”
No response from the North
North Korea has not reacted to the offer. Its state news agency instead carried coverage of leader Kim Jong Un marking the North’s own Liberation Day commemorations with a wreath-laying and guard of honour.
Pyongyang has rebuffed Lee’s previous overtures, criticising a deal for the United States to build South Korea a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and denouncing joint military drills between the two allies. This week it condemned upcoming annual US-South Korean exercises and warned of stronger deterrence measures.
Kim declared in January 2024 that unification with the South was no longer possible and called for the constitution to define South Korea as a “primary foe” — a revision subsequently enacted. The North declared itself a nuclear power in 2022 and has vowed never to give up its weapons, of which it is estimated to hold dozens.
Lee, who took office last year after his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached over an attempt to declare martial law, has sought to thaw relations with Pyongyang and Beijing. Analysts say North Korea receives money, food, energy and military technology from Moscow in return for troops and munitions for the war in Ukraine, and Kim is expected to visit Russia later this year. About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea.
Sri Lanka maintains labour ties with Seoul, including the E-8 seasonal employment programme that resumed this year.
