S’Korea president proposes talks with North to formally end Korean War

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South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung

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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung proposed talks with North Korea to formally end the long-running Korean War, as Pyongyang deepens ties with Russia while asserting its status as an “irreversible” nuclear state.

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The two Koreas remain technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict, triggered by a North Korean attack, ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

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Lee made the proposal in his speech at a ceremony marking the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.

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“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 in his speech.

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“Through this, it may also be possible to discuss effective measures to halt the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities,” he added.

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Lee’s proposal came as North Korea this week denounced upcoming annual US-South Korean military drills, warning of stronger deterrence measures.

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Pyongyang has also recently been bristling over Japan’s gradual military build-up in the Pacific — firing off two missiles in as many weeks after Tokyo pledged to up its defence capabilities with a “sense of urgency and crisis”.

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North Korea has repeatedly declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear state since a 2019 summit between Kim and US counterpart Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed over the scope of denuclearisation and sanctions relief.

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South Korea’s dovish President Lee has reversed the stance of his hawkish predecessor since taking power in Seoul in June 2025, offering nuclear-armed Pyongyang talks without preconditions.

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In July, South Korea’s unification minister even claimed Seoul had abandoned its campaign prioritising pressure on the North to dismantle its nuclear weapons, focusing instead on halting the expansion of Pyongyang’s nuclear activities.

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The hermetic leadership of North Korea has yet to respond to Lee’s repeated offers, and has instead bolstered military ties with Russia.

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Analysts say Pyongyang is receiving financial support, food, energy and military technology from Moscow for supplying troops and munitions for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to visit Russia later this year, potentially to discuss further weapons supplies to Moscow.

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Washington, Seoul’s key security ally, stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea to bolter the country’s defences against military threats from Pyongyang.

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Colonel Ryan Donald, spokesman for the US and South Korean Combined Forces Command, said this week that North Korea’s deployment to the European war had changed the threat his soldiers may face on the Korean peninsula.

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“They’ve taken those lessons they learned there and brought them back to North Korea,” he told reporters as he talked about the 11-day South Korea-US joint exercises due to begin Monday.

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“Our training accounts for that threat.”

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AFP

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