South Korean President Lee Jae Myung made the proposal in a speech marking Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. He urged North Korea to abandon attempts to threaten each other and work toward lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Lee said the proposed talks could also explore possible measures to limit North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.
The Korean War began in 1950 and ended in active fighting in July 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. As no formal peace agreement was ever signed, the two Koreas technically remain at war.
Lee said South Korea would take proactive and sustained measures to reduce tensions while establishing safeguards at multiple levels to prevent further escalation.
The latest proposal builds on Lee’s earlier pledge to respect North Korea’s political system and pursue peaceful relations with Pyongyang.
Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule on August 15, 1945, following Japan’s defeat in World War II. The date is commemorated annually in both North and South Korea.
Tensions between the two Korean states emerged soon after liberation, with ideological and territorial divisions eventually leading to war.
On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea, triggering the Korean War. The conflict quickly developed into a major international confrontation, with the United States and its allies supporting South Korea, while China and the Soviet Union backed North Korea.
The three-year conflict killed an estimated three million soldiers and civilians.
North Korea has previously rejected proposals for dialogue from President Lee. Pyongyang has also criticised joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States as provocative and has described South Korea as its principal enemy.
The fighting ended on July 27, 1953, when the two sides signed an armistice and withdrew their forces to an agreed boundary. However, the absence of a permanent peace treaty has left the Korean Peninsula technically in a state of war for more than seven decades.
