South Korean president proposes talks to officially end war with North Korea

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South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has proposed talks with North Korea, its northern neighbour, to end the long-running Korean War.

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The president made this call while speaking at a ceremony marking the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule, the BBC reports.

“Let us put down our intentions to threaten each other and begin discussions to end the long-running war as the directly involved parties,” he said.

The proposal comes a few days after North Korea declared that the US-South Korea military drills set to commence on Monday were a provocation that heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The joint drill is an annual military exercise that Pyongyang regularly labels as rehearsals for an invasion.

The war between South and North Korea can be traced to the division of Korea into two separate states after World War II (1945), which eventually led to the Korean War in 1950.

The fighting continued until 1953, when both sides agreed to an armistice.

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However, there was no formal peace treaty, so technically the two Koreas are still at war.

Over the years, there have been clashes along the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), along with accusations of provocation from both sides.

The DMZ separates the country along the 38th parallel.

Mr Myung-bak disclosed that he hopes the two nations “will sit face-to-face for peaceful coexistence and mutual growth.”

“Through this, it may also be possible to discuss effective measures to halt the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities,” he said.

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Mr Myung-bak had also called for negotiations after taking over from former President Yoon Suk Yeol, under whose administration relations with North Korea and China had soured. PREMIUM TIMES reports that Mr Yeol was impeached for declaring martial law, an act that threw the country into chaos.

But North Korea has repeatedly rejected Mr Myung-bak’s attempts to improve relations.

It has also repeatedly criticised South Korea’s plan to build nuclear-powered submarines and the joint 11-day military exercises.

Last week, the country test-fired a ballistic missile over the Sea of Japan, signalling its opposition to the exercise.

The launch was Pyongyang’s 11th suspected ballistic missile test in 2026, according to South Korean assessments.