South Korea's Lee urges talks with North Korea to replace armistice with peace

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on Saturday for talks with ​North Korea to pursue peaceful coexistence, saying Seoul ‌would seek safeguards to prevent conflict and noting the need to replace the peninsula's armistice with a "peace regime," Report informs via Reuters.

In a speech marking the ​anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee ​said the two Koreas should hold a sit-down ⁠for coexistence.

He urged dialogue between North Korea and concerned ​parties to end the 1950-53 Korean War, which was stopped ​by a ceasefire, not a peace treaty, and said discussions could also explore effective measures to curb Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities.

Lee said Seoul would ​take preemptive and sustained steps to ease tensions and ​build layered safeguards to contain escalation.

Ties between North and South Korea remain frozen. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has abandoned Pyongyang's reunification ​policy, has described ​the South ⁠as its most hostile state and ordered stronger frontline defences.