S. Korea seeks to halt military activity on border

South Korea intends to restore a pact to suspend military activity along its border with North Korea, President Lee Jae Myung said on Aug. 15, as his government seeks to improve ties between the countries still technically at war.

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activity along its border with North Korea, President Lee Jae Myung said on Aug. 15, as his government seeks to improve ties between the countries still technically at war.

In a speech to mark the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, he added that he would restore the so-called September 19 Comprehensive Military Agreement, a de-escalation measure that halted some military activities at the border. The pact was signed at an inter-Korean summit in 2018, but broke down as cross-border tension spiked.

How Pyongyang will respond to Seoul's latest overture remains unclear.

Top North Korean officials in recent weeks have dismissed other moves taken by Mr. Lee, a liberal who won a snap election in June, to ease the tension.

The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty and entrenched the peninsula's division.

"Everyone knows that the long-drawn-out hostility benefits people in neither of the two Koreas," Mr. Lee said during his speech in Seoul.