South Korea's Yoon seeks dialogue with North, path to unification

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a ceremony to mark the 74th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War in Daegu, South Korea, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Ahn Young-joon/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol offered on Thursday to establish a working-level consultative body with North Korea to discuss ways to ease tension and resume economic cooperation, as he laid out his vision on unification of the neighbours.

In a National Liberation Day speech marking the 79th anniversary of independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule after World War Two, Yoon said he was ready to begin political and economic cooperation if North Korea "takes just one step" toward denuclearisation.