South Korea's Lee urges North Korea to restore dialogue, pledges military buildup

GYERYONG: 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.

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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.