President Lee Jae-myung called on neighbour 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 yesterday marking the country’s Armed Forces Day.
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.
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.
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 Demilitarized Zone. — Reuters
