Hope for peace in Korean Peninsula

Some 10 days into the Lee Jae-myung administration, clear signs of a thaw are emerging along the border dividing the two Koreas.

- LEE KYONG-HEE

Amid a flurry of activities largely focused on economic stimulus, President Lee also instructed South Korean civic groups and the military to suspend cross-border propaganda using balloons and loudspeakers. The next day, North Korea halted its broadcasts of eerie noises to the South, giving border residents their first quiet in about a year.

It would be premature to declare this brief respite a prelude to sustained calm on the world's most heavily fortified border. But it would be remiss to ignore the conspicuous signs of efforts to find a breakthrough in the stalled relations with nuclear-armed North Korea.

Signals from both Seoul and Washington are cause for cautious optimism. President Lee appears to be intent on fulfilling his campaign promise to restore communications with Pyongyang and ease tensions around the peninsula. Within days of his inauguration, Lee made clear that his approach would differ from his predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, whose tough-guy stance did little but estrange the North. Lee's timing seems auspicious.

US President Donald Trump is reportedly seeking to revive summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump's overture comes somewhat earlier than expected given that the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East remain in limbo.