The key facts

  • Prime Minister Han Song Sook: efforts to open the door for dialogue with the DPRK will not stop
  • President Lee Jae-myung's policy since June 2025 is aimed at restoring communication channels with Pyongyang
  • The two Koreas are formally still at war — the Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty

Seoul intends to seek the resumption of dialogue with Pyongyang

South Korea on Sunday, October 18, declared its intention to continue efforts to resume inter-Korean dialogue and to pursue peaceful coexistence with the DPRK, local media report citing the country's Prime Minister Han Song Sook. According to the Yonhap agency, she said that Seoul will strive to lay the groundwork for resuming the dialogue, which has reached a deadlock.

Statements by the Prime Minister

“Efforts will be made to open the door for dialogue between South and North Korea and to hold talks on peace and shared prosperity,” Han stated. She called the division of the two Korean states a “reality” and emphasized that the pain of displaced residents and separated families “continues.” “Our efforts to open the path to peaceful coexistence of the South and the North cannot stop,” the prime minister added.

Context of inter-Korean relations

The two Korean states signed the Panmunjom Declaration in April 2018 in the village of Panmunjom. Formally, the Koreas remain in a state of war: the Korean War of 1950–1953 ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Policy change after the change of power

Since taking office in June 2025, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has changed the policy of his predecessor Yoon Suk-yeol: he stopped loudspeaker broadcasts of anti-Korean (anti-Pyongyang) propaganda and introduced a ban on activists launching balloons with anti-Pyongyang content into DPRK territory. These and other measures are aimed at restoring communication channels between the sides, which remain suspended since the Yoon government.