SEOUL, Sept 2 (Reuters) – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Wednesday that conditions should be created to resume dialogue between the United States and North Korea, according to the presidential Blue House.
Lee, speaking at a meeting of overseas advisers on Korean Peninsula peace, also said the armistice system on the Korean Peninsula should be transformed into a peace system based on cooperation and prosperity.
“We must change the unfortunate reality in which North and South Korea are using their strength only to confront each other,” the Blue House quoted Lee as saying.
The two Koreas remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Lee also said South Korea should fulfil its responsibility for peace on the Korean Peninsula through the return of wartime operational control from the United States, which he has pledged to complete before his term ends in 2030.
Lee has consistently pushed engagement with North Korea since taking office, even as Pyongyang has designated South Korea a hostile state and shut down communication channels.
North Korea has also continued to portray the United States as hostile despite President Donald Trump’s efforts to revive diplomacy and his call last month to scale back U.S. joint military drills with South Korea, which Pyongyang has long denounced as rehearsals for an invasion.
South Korea’s intelligence agency said North Korea and the U.S. are showing signs of resuming dialogue, though no specific contacts have been confirmed, lawmakers in Seoul said on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Kyu-seok ShimEditing by Ed Davies)
