South Korean President Lee Jae Myung used his Liberation Day address on August 15 to propose formal dialogue with North Korea to end the Korean War and halt Pyongyang's nuclear program, offering to replace the 1953 armistice with a peace regime [1][2][10][15]. "Let us put down our intentions to threaten each other and begin discussions to end the long-running war as the directly involved parties," Lee said, adding that the process could also address "effective ways to halt the advancement of the nuclear capabilities of the North" [2][3][6]. Lee proposed a format involving the two Koreas and the United States, or those three plus China, and called for a "multi-layered security system" to prevent flare-ups along the Demilitarized Zone [12][17]. The address also included pledges to restore the September 19 Military Agreement and to use the UN General Assembly and APEC for diplomatic outreach [18], and Lee pledged to act as a "pacemaker" for peace, turning "적대와 대결의 에너지를 평화 공존과 공동 번영의 동력으로 바꿔낼 것" (the energy of hostility and confrontation into momentum for peaceful coexistence and shared prosperity) [20].

The proposal builds on Lee's earlier "END" initiative, which South Korean security officials and academics describe as a flexible reset of inter-Korean relations rather than a rigid denuclearization-first roadmap [28]. Wi Sung-lac, head of South Korea's National Security Office, stated that "there is no causal relationship or order of priority" between exchange, normalization, and denuclearization in the initiative [28]. Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University, described the approach as an appeal to let US-North Korea relations proceed while advancing inter-Korean relations where immediately feasible [28]. Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, called it a new plan for peace that could be termed the "New York declaration" [28]. Yonhap's Korean-language analysis noted that Lee's proposal marks a shift from last year's mention of "denuclearization" to a focus on "halting" North Korea's nuclear capabilities, reflecting what the outlet described as a realistic assessment of Pyongyang's rejection of disarmament [21]. South Korea's Unification Ministry has similarly abandoned prioritizing dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear program in favor of a campaign to stop its development [25].

That shift from denuclearization to "halt" has drawn competing assessments from nonproliferation and security scholars. Michiru Nishida, a professor at Nagasaki University and senior research adviser at APLN, argued that de-emphasizing denuclearization would cement North Korea's de facto nuclear-armed status, set a dangerous precedent for nonproliferation, and could intensify nuclear-armament debates in Japan and South Korea amid eroded confidence in US extended deterrence [27]. Tytti Erästö, a senior researcher at SIPRI, argued the opposite: that reviving a Six-Party-style regional stability dialogue while deliberately omitting denuclearization as a precondition would be more likely to draw Pyongyang into talks and achieve practical risk reduction than insisting on disarmament upfront [29].

North Korea has not responded to Lee's overture and has previously rejected Seoul's reconciliatory gestures since Lee took office [12][14]. Kim Jong Un announced in January 2024 that unification with the South was no longer possible and that the constitution should be amended to designate South Korea as a "primary foe and invariable principal enemy" [2][16]. North Korea has abandoned the long-standing policy of reunification, labeled South Korea as its "most hostile state," and ordered strengthened border defenses [8]. Pyongyang has cited South Korea's nuclear-powered submarine plans and joint military exercises with the United States as provocations [8]. Multiple outlets independently assessed that Pyongyang is very unlikely to respond positively [9][24]; RFI cited frozen communications and recent border fortifications [9]. The day after Lee renewed his peace call, South Korea's military fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the Military Demarcation Line — the first such border incursion this year [13].

The United States has signaled openness to renewed top-level engagement. President Donald Trump said last August that he hoped to meet Kim Jong Un again when "appropriate" [2][16]. The US-ROK Combined Forces Command, meanwhile, reported that North Korean troops deployed to the war in Ukraine have brought back lessons that alter the threat calculus on the peninsula. "They've taken those lessons they learned there and brought them back to North Korea," said Colonel Ryan Donald, a spokesman for the Combined Forces Command, adding that allied training has been adjusted accordingly [3][4][5][7].

Russia has explicitly backed North Korea's nuclear course. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Moscow no longer joins calls for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula: "Мы больше не присоединяемся к призывам осуществить денуклеаризацию Корейского полуострова" (We no longer join calls to carry out denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula), citing what he described as aggressive US and allied military activity near North Korea [22]. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian has described Beijing's position on the peninsula as "continuous and stable" and signaled willingness to expand diplomatic, law-enforcement, and military exchanges with North Korea [19]. North Korea's closer ties with Russia, including troop and munitions support for the Ukraine war, have been noted as a factor reducing Pyongyang's incentive for dialogue [24].

Lee's address also addressed South Korea-Japan relations, announcing reactivated "shuttle diplomacy" with Tokyo and pledging to investigate and confiscate assets accumulated by collaborators of Japanese colonial rule to fund support for South Korean youth [6][11]. Japanese coverage framed the peace initiative within the context of Japan's security concerns, including North Korean missile tests [23].

As of the latest reporting, North Korea has not responded to Lee's Liberation Day proposal, and border tensions persist along the DMZ [13][26]. Upcoming US-South Korean joint military exercises have been identified by multiple sources as a continuing source of tension that Pyongyang has denounced [3][26].