South Korea intends to restore a pact to suspend military activity along its border with North Korea, President Lee Jae Myung said on Friday, as his government seeks to improve ties between the neighbouring countries still technically at war.
In a speech to mark the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee said he would restore the so-called September 19 Comprehensive Military Agreement. The pact was signed at an inter-Korean summit in 2018 and designed to de-escalate tension along the border between North Korea and South Korea.
Pyongyang later tore up the agreement and said it would restore all military measures after Seoul suspended parts of the agreement amid a spike in tensions.
President Lee, who won a snap election in June, has sought to re-engage Pyongyang after a period of cross-border tension and shown a willingness to return to dialogue.
"Everyone knows that the long drawn-out hostility benefits people in neither of the two Koreas," Lee said during his speech in Seoul.
Lee said South Korea had no intention of absorbing North Korea for unification and respected Pyongyang's current system.
The president cited his government's efforts to lower tensions, including halting the launch of balloons floated by activists with anti-North Korea leaflets and dismantling loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the heavily-militarised border.
"In particular, to prevent accidental clashes between South and North Korea and to build military trust, we will take proactive, gradual steps to restore the September 19 Military Agreement," Lee said.
In June 2024, former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared a complete suspension of the military pact in response to North Korea's move to send hundreds of rubbish-stuffed balloons across the border.
"I hope that North Korea will reciprocate our efforts to restore trust and revive dialogue," Lee said.
Earlier this month, South Korea and the U.S. announced a delay in parts of their annual joint military exercises that have been a source of tension with North Korea.
Top North Korean officials have, however, in recent weeks dismissed moves taken by Lee's new liberal government aimed at easing tension between the two Koreas.
Lee would keep seeking to peacefully denuclearise North Korea through cooperation with the international community and dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington, he said.
Turning to South Korea's ties with Japan, Lee said the relationship should be "forward-looking", based on pragmatic diplomacy focusing on Seoul's national interest.
Ties between the U.S. allies have often been strained, rooted in historical disputes stemming from Japan's colonial rule over the Korean peninsula from 1910-1945.
The South Korean president will visit Japan on August 23 for a summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, as both countries grapple with the implications of U.S. tariffs imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump.
Lee has in the past been critical of efforts by administrations in Seoul to improve ties with Tokyo, though he pledged to deepen the relationship with Japan at a meeting with Ishiba on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in Canada in June.
Reuters
