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South Korea proposes talks to officially end war with North

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Aleks Phillips

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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said talks could yield "peaceful coexistence"

South Korea's president has proposed talks with its northern neighbour on officially ending the war between the two that is technically still active.

Lee Jae Myung suggested a "multi-layered security system" to avoid flare-ups along the countries' de-facto border, known as the demilitarised zone (DMZ), and offered to discuss practical ways of halting Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

North Korea has continually tested ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, which has been perceived in Seoul and nearby Japan as an attempt to intimidate and project power.

The conflict between the two occupants of the Korean peninsula has been effectively frozen since an armistice was signed in 1953.

They did not sign a peace treaty and therefore have remained technically still at war ever since.

There have been clashes and tensions along the DMZ in the decades since, along with accusations from both sides of provocations, including dropping balloons carrying rubbish and propaganda.

Lee, who became South Korean president last year after his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached for attempting to declare martial law, has sought to thaw relations with North Korea and its ally China, which had soured under Yoon.

"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 told a ceremony marking Liberation Day, which commemorates the peninsula's liberation from Japanese rule.

Lee expressed hope that the two nations "will sit face-to-face for peaceful coexistence and mutual growth", adding this could serve as a forum for discussing "effective ways to halt the advancement of the North's nuclear capabilities".

North Korea has yet to react to Lee's offer. The authoritarian regime's state news agency carried news of Kim marking the country's own Liberation Day commemorations with a wreath-laying and guard of honour.

Pyongyang has previously rebuffed Lee's offers of engagement, criticising a deal for the US to build South Korea a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and denouncing joint drills between the two allies.

In January 2024, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced that unification with the South was no longer possible.

Kim said that the constitution should be amended to educate North Koreans that South Korea was a "primary foe and invariable principal enemy".

In a speech at the time, he added that if a war were to break out on the Korean peninsula, the North should aim towards "occupying", "recapturing" and "incorporating" the South into its territory.

North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2022 and vowed never to relinquish its weapons, of which it is estimated to possess dozens.

Lee has previously said Pyongyang was producing 15 to 20 more warheads annually, telling the BBC last year he would back a deal between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un to freeze production.

Trump is the only Western leader to have met Kim, which happened during the US president's first term.

Though he has turned his attention to other regions since returning to the White House, Trump said last August that he hoped to meet Kim again when "appropriate".

In a sign of continued sabre-rattling, North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Tuesday - the 11th suspected test so far this year - just days before a scheduled US-South Korean joint military exercise.

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