South Korea to resume some border military de-escalation measures President Lee announces

South Korea will suspend certain military activities along its border with North Korea, President Lee Jae Myung announced on August 15, marking his administration’s latest effort to improve ties between the two neighbours that remain technically at war.

Speaking on the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee said his government plans to restore the September 19 Comprehensive Military Agreement, a 2018 de-escalation pact that halted some border military operations, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The agreement collapsed amid rising tensions following cross-border incidents.

Lee acknowledged that North Korea’s response to Seoul’s latest overture is uncertain. In recent weeks, Pyongyang’s top officials dismissed other measures introduced by Lee, a liberal who won a snap election in June, aimed at easing tensions.

“Everyone knows that the long-drawn hostility benefits neither South nor North Korea,” Lee said in his speech in Seoul.

He cited steps his government has already taken to reduce friction, including stopping activist-launched anti-North Korean leaflets via balloons and dismantling loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the heavily militarized border.

“In particular, to prevent accidental clashes and build military trust, we will take proactive, gradual steps to restore the September 19 Military Agreement,” he added, without specifying a timeframe.

The pact, which former President Yoon Suk Yeol suspended in June 2024, included measures such as halting military drills near the border, banning live-fire exercises in designated zones, maintaining no-fly zones, removing some guard posts along the Demilitarized Zone, and sustaining hotlines. Pyongyang had previously abandoned the agreement in November 2023 after sending hundreds of trash-filled balloons across the border.

Lee expressed hope that North Korea would reciprocate and engage in dialogue. Earlier this month, South Korea and the U.S. postponed portions of their annual joint military exercises, which have historically provoked Pyongyang.

Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Sejong Institute, predicted that Pyongyang is likely “to ignore or denounce” Lee’s latest initiatives, recalling past instances when Seoul broke the pact. Yeom Don-jay, a former official at South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, noted that persuading U.S. President Donald Trump to ease sanctions might be necessary to bring Kim Jong Un to the negotiating table, with North Korea closely watching an upcoming Lee-Trump summit.

Turning to South Korea’s relationship with Japan, Lee said it should be “forward-looking” and guided by pragmatic diplomacy serving Seoul’s national interest. Historical disputes from Japan’s colonial rule over the peninsula (1910–1945) have long strained ties between the U.S. allies.

President Lee is scheduled to visit Japan on August 23 for a summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, with discussions expected to include U.S. tariffs imposed by Trump’s administration.

Lee has previously criticised Seoul’s past efforts to improve relations with Tokyo but reaffirmed his commitment to deepen bilateral cooperation, citing a June meeting with Ishiba on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Canada.

By Tamilla Hasanova