South Korean President reaffirms commitment to restoring trust with North Korea

Seoul: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday reaffirmed his commitment to taking proactive steps to restore trust with North Korea and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, calling on Pyongyang to respond to Seoul's overtures.

Lee made the remarks in a message sent to a ceremony commemorating the eighth anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration, a landmark agreement signed in April 2018 by then President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the truce village of Panmunjom.

"The government will steadfastly pursue a policy of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula," Lee said.

"We will proactively take steps that we can initiate first to restore inter-Korean trust and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula," the president added.

Lee said establishing a permanent peace regime, and achieving coexistence and shared prosperity between the two Koreas reflect the core spirit of the declaration and the future that must be pursued.

The two Koreas remain technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.