Lee Jae Myung: "“Last year, I used this occasion to express my respect for the North Korean…"

Marking the 81st anniversary of Korea’s independence from Japan, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged the North to enter negotiations to formally close the Korean War and to take steps toward denuclearization. Recalling his previous Liberation Day address, Lee said he had then recognized Pyongyang’s political system and promised not to take hostile action or absorb the North by force. This year, he said, his aim was to move from those commitments to concrete arrangements. He proposed reducing mutual hostility, establishing safeguards against crises, and building stable peace that would strengthen Northeast Asia and nuclear non-proliferation. He also vowed to seize assets acquired unjustly by pro-Japanese collaborators and to continue practical diplomacy with Japan.