South Korea’s Lee warns North Korea of ‘uncertainties’ caused by Mideast war

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung Monday called on North Korea to respond to Seoul’s “sincere” peace overtures, warning “uncertainties” caused by the Middle East should not spill over on to the Korean Peninsula.

“We will proactively take steps that we can initiate first to restore inter-Korean trust and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Lee said in a message marking the eighth anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration.

The landmark Panmunjom Declaration was signed in April 2018 by then South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the truce village of Panmunjom.

Seoul hopes North Korea “will also trust our government’s sincerity and respond,” Lee said in a written message read at parliament.

The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a truce rather than a peace treaty. The South hosts about 28,500 US troops under a bilateral defense agreement.

Lee said his government “will steadfastly pursue a policy of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula.”

Since taking office last June, Lee has shifted policy from that of his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, who was removed from office following his December 2024 martial law declaration.

South Korean prosecutors have alleged Yoon ordered military drone incursions over Pyongyang in an attempt to provoke North Korea and justify his extra-constitutional move to impose martial law.

Lee has halted anti-North Korean loudspeaker broadcasts and imposed ban on activists flying anti-Pyongyang balloons inside North Korean territory among other statements aimed at restoring channels of communication between the two sides, which remains suspended since Yoon era.

“We must ensure that uncertainties and anxieties in the international situation caused by the war in the Middle East do not spill over to the Korean Peninsula,” Lee warned.

Instead, Lee called for a path in which “all people can live without fear of war.”

On Feb. 28, the US and Israel launched a joint war on Iran, triggering retaliation by Tehran across the Middle East which has hit global energy supplies, impacting most of Asian nations including South Korea.

Lee reiterated that his government has “made it clear that we respect the North’s system, will not pursue unification by absorption and will refrain from any hostile acts.”