South Korea to End Some Military Activities on Border With North Korea

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said on Friday he will restore the 2018 agreement with North Korea, which will end some military activities along their shared border.

During the speech given to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule, Lee said his government will “proactively and gradually” restore the September 19 Comprehensive Military Agreement “to prevent accidental clashes between the South and the North, and build military trust.”

Lee affirmed that Seoul respects the current North Korean regime and has no intention of engaging in any hostile action.

“We know all too well that the continuation of hostilities serves no benefit to the people of either the South or the North,” he said, according to a translation of an official transcript.

The president said the move aimed to ease border tensions and encourage Pyongyang to respond to Seoul’s efforts to rebuild trust and reopen inter-Korean communications.

“We will patiently wait for the North to respond in a way that restores trust and restores severed dialogue,” he said.

The Comprehensive Military Agreement was a de-escalation measure that halted some military activities between the two countries. The pact included measures such as imposing no-fly zones, ending military drills near the demilitarized zone, and maintaining hotlines.

However, it broke down as cross-border tensions rose amid Pyongyang’s pursuit of weapons development.

Pyongyang abandoned the pact in November 2023, and former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol suspended it in June 2024, after North Korea had sent more than 1,600 balloons carrying trash into the South. The assault by Pyongyang prompted Seoul to recommence broadcasting anti-North Korea messages on loudspeakers near their shared border—a practice that was halted under the 2018 agreement.

While Lee did not give a timeline for when the measures would be restored, earlier this month, he ordered the removal of the loudspeaker system from the demilitarized zone, signalling that work was already underway.

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said on Aug. 4 it was a “practical measure that can help ease inter-Korean tensions without affecting the military’s readiness posture.”

However, on Tuesday, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said that Seoul’s belief that Pyongyang will respond to its diplomatic gestures was a “pipedream,” according to North Korean state-run media outlet KCNA.

Kim Yo Jong said that North Korea has never removed its loudspeakers from the border and is not willing to do so, according to the outlet.

“Whether or not the [Republic of Korea] withdraws its loudspeakers, stops broadcasting, postpones its military exercises, and downscales them, we do not care about them and are not interested in them,” she said.

Reuters contributed to this report.