South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday pledged to initiate another attempt at peace with North Korea during his final months as president.
Moon, whose term in office ends in May, is the son of wartime refugees from North Korea. During his last new year’s address as South Korea’s leader, Moon spoke of the North Korea issue, which has defined his political career.
“All Koreans have long aspirated peace, prosperity, and unification… I will continue to make efforts to institutionalise sustainable peace, and I won’t stop that until the end of my term. We are a divided country and we have been through war. There is nothing more precious than peace to us,” Moon said.
“The government will pursue normalisation of inter-Korean relations and an irreversible path to peace until the end. I hope efforts for dialogue will continue in the next administration too,” he added.
Moon expressed optimism regarding the matter while accepting that it might not be easy. “It is true that we still have a long way to go… if we talk again and cooperate, the international community will also respond. Our government, if given the opportunity, will seek a path for the normalisation of inter-Korean relations and the irreversible peace,” he said. He also added that he hoped to see the country’s next leader would continue to seek talks.
Meanwhile, in his own address on New Year’s Eve, North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un made no mention of Moon’s calls for a declaration officially to end the 1950-1953 Korean War, or of the stalled denuclearisation talks with the United States (US). The South Korean leader has long advocated for the signing of the declaration as a way to ease North Korean suspicions about the US’ intentions.
In fact, last month, the US and South Korea agreed on a draft to formally end the Korean war. The US also called on North Korea to consider the “outreach” and said that it is willing to reach out to Pyongyang. Speaking at a news conference in Seoul last week, South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said that both sides have “effectively reached an agreement” on the draft and noted that Washington and Seoul “share an understanding” of the importance of the draft.
Denuclearisation talks between former US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un collapsed two years ago with no agreement regarding denuclearisation or the easing of United Nations sanctions on the North.
Since then, North Korea has increased pressure on the South to work on improving inter-Korean economic ties even before the North dismantles its nuclear weapons program. In fact, Pyongyang abruptly cut off all communication lines with Seoul and blew up a joint liaison office in the border town of Kaesong in June 2020, before suddenly suspending plans for military action against the South.
The North’s continued missile tests have intensified military tensions on the peninsula, which have more or less remained frequent since the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953.