S’Korea President Lee Jae Myung calls for talks to formally end Korean War

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has called for talks with North Korea aimed at formally ending the Korean War, as tensions remain high over Pyongyang’s growing relationship with Russia and its nuclear ambitions.

The two Koreas are still technically at war because the 1950-1953 conflict ended with an armistice agreement rather than a formal peace treaty.

Lee made the proposal in a speech during a ceremony marking Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, which lasted from 1910 to 1945.

The South Korean leader’s call comes as North Korea continues to strengthen its ties with Russia while maintaining that its status as a nuclear-armed state is “irreversible.”

“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 upcoming 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 Kim and US counterpart Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed over the scope of denuclearisation and sanctions relief.

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.

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.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un 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 bolter 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 may 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 Monday.

“Our training accounts for that threat.”

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