South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday called on North Korea to help restore trust and resume dialogue, a day after Seoul and Pyongyang traded barbs over a landmine incident that South Korea’s military and the UN Command said amounted to an armistice violation.
– “I hope that the North joins us now on the path of restoring trust and resuming dialogue, following a long interruption,” Lee said in an address marking the country’s Armed Forces Day, adding that his administration would “consistently pursue practical measures to reduce military tensions between the two Koreas.”
– The comments came after Seoul’s military and the UN Command said North Korea violated the Korean War armistice following a landmine blast last week that wounded three South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
– Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, rejected the findings in a statement on Wednesday, accused Seoul of fabricating the results and warned of retaliation.
– Lee reaffirmed his goal of securing the transfer of wartime operational control from the United States to South Korea, calling it part of a long-standing push for self-reliant national defence.
– In a wide-ranging defence reform agenda, Lee also said in his speech that South Korea would build nuclear-powered submarines by the mid-2030s and upgrade missile defence capabilities, including AI-based command-and-control systems and high-energy laser interceptors.
– He said the modernisation drive would also involve expanding AI capabilities, restructuring the military for future warfare and strengthening the country’s three-axis defence system for detecting and intercepting missile threats.
– Lee’s government has sought to reopen dialogue with North Korea, but Pyongyang has largely rejected Seoul’s overtures while pressing ahead with border fortification work along the DMZ.