South Korea's president vows to restore 2018 inter-Korean military agreement to ease tensions

South Korea’s new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, said Friday he will seek to restore a 2018 military agreement with North Korea aimed at reducing border tensions and urged Pyongyang to respond to Seoul’s efforts to rebuild trust and revive dialogue.

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, said Friday that he will seek to restore a 2018 military agreement with North Korea aimed at reducing border tensions and urged Pyongyang to respond to Seoul’s efforts to rebuild trust and revive dialogue.

Speaking on the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee’s overture came amid soaring tensions fueled by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions and deepening ties with Russia over the war in Ukraine.

The 2018 military agreement, reached during a brief period of diplomacy between Kim and South Korea’s former liberal President Moon Jae-in, created buffer zones on land and sea and no-fly zones above the border to prevent clashes.

South Korea’s previous conservative government suspended the deal in 2024, citing tensions over North Korea’s launches of trash-laden balloons toward the South, and moved to resume frontline military activities and propaganda campaigns. The step came after North Korea had already declared it would no longer abide by the agreement.

“To prevent accidental clashes between South and North Korea and to build military trust, we will take proactive, gradual steps to restore the (2018) Sept. 19 military agreement,” Lee said in a televised speech.