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Agence France-Presse

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.
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.
Lee made the proposal in his speech at a ceremony marking the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 1910–45 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,” Lee said in his speech.
“Through this, it may also be possible to discuss effective measures to halt the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities,” he added.
Lee’s proposal came as North Korea this week denounced coming annual US-South Korean military drills, warning of stronger deterrence measures.

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”.
North Korea has repeatedly declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear state since a 2019 summit between its leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed over the scope of denuclearisation and sanctions relief.
Lee has reversed the stance of his hawkish predecessor since taking power in Seoul in June 2025, offering nuclear-armed Pyongyang talks without preconditions.
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.
The hermetic leadership of North Korea has yet to respond to Lee’s repeated offers, and has instead bolstered military ties with Russia.
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.

Kim is expected to visit Russia later this year, potentially to discuss further weapons supplies to Moscow.
Washington, Seoul’s key security ally, stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea to bolster the country’s defences against military threats from Pyongyang.
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 might face on the Korean peninsula.
“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 on Monday.
“Our training accounts for that threat.”


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South Korea’s president proposes formal end to Korean war talks with North

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (centre) and Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back (right) listen to a military officer at an observatory on Yeonpyeong Island in South Korea in June. Photo: EPA

A South Korean war veteran lays flowers at the gravestone of his comrade killed during the 1950-1953 Korean war at the National Cemetery in Seoul in 2013. Photo: AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter Kim Ju-ae inspect the test-fire of a ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea in April. Photo: AFP/KNCA/KNS

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and his wife Kim Hea-kyung waves the national flags during a ceremony to celebrate the 81st anniversary of the Korean Liberation Day in Seoul on Saturday. Photo: EPA

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a ceremony to celebrate the 81st anniversary of the Korean Liberation Day in Seoul on Saturday. Photo: EPA

North Korea missile launch hints at upgraded weapons exports to Russia for Ukraine war

People in Seoul watch a news broadcast about a North Korean missile launch on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

A North Korean flag flies in the North’s Kijong village on the western border with South Korea, as seen from an observatory in Paju, South Korea, on Wednesday. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

A man photographs parts of a missile that Ukrainian authorities believe to be made in North Korea in Kharkiv on January 6, 2024. Photo: Reuters 

A US Navy landing craft operates in Sasebo Bay in August 2020. Photo: US Pacific Fleet

South Korea faces quandary over Ukraine’s air defence system request

The KM-SAM Cheongung missile system on display during the Seoul International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition in Seongnam last year. Photo: AFP

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Saturday. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Ukrainian servicemen practice flying drones in a training centre at an undisclosed location in March. Photo: AFP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks in April at the launch of a museum to mark the first anniversary of the conclusion of a military operation in the Kursk region of Russia. Photo: EPA

Japan slams North Korea’s ballistic missile firing ahead of US-Seoul drills

News coverage showing footage of a North Korean missile launch on a screen at a railway station in Seoul. On Wednesday, Japan’s defence ministry said North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile towards the sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Photo: AFP

US soldiers cross a floating bridge on the Imjin River during a joint exercise with South Korea in Yeoncheon last year. Photo: AP

Indonesia’s Prabowo is happy to play mediator to both Koreas. But does North want him to?

Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto speaks at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (left) and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung shake hands before their meeting at presidential office in Seoul on April 1. Photo: Yonhap/AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un greets war veterans at an event marking the 73rd anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang on July 28. Photo: KCNA/Reuters

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Lee Jae Myung says that through the talks, it may be possible to discuss steps to stop the expansion of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities


Lee Jae Myung says that through the talks, it may be possible to discuss steps to stop the expansion of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.


South Korea’s president proposes formal end to Korean war talks with North

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Lee Jae Myung says that through the talks, it may be possible to discuss steps to stop the expansion of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities

Lee Jae Myung says that through the talks, it may be possible to discuss steps to stop the expansion of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities