• South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung announces plans to restore a military pact with North Korea.
• The agreement aims to reduce military tensions and prevent accidental clashes along the border.
• Lee confirms South Korea will not pursue unification by absorption and respects North Korea's political system.
• The announcement comes amid soaring tensions due to North Korea's nuclear ambitions and ties with Russia.
• North Korean responses to Seoul's overture remain uncertain, with officials dismissing recent reconciliation efforts.

South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung has pledged to restore the 2018 September 19 Comprehensive Military Agreement with North Korea, aimed at reducing military activities and preventing clashes along the border. In his speech honoring the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee highlighted a need for reconciliation, stating, “Everyone knows that the long drawn-out hostility benefits people in neither of the two Koreas,” according to SCMP and Reuters.

The September 19 agreement was intended to de-escalate tensions and foster cooperation, but was effectively abandoned following increased military provocations from both sides. Lee's administration seeks to reverse this trend, reinforcing that South Korea will not pursue unification through absorption and will respect North Korea's current political system, according to Al Jazeera and Anadolu Agency.

President Lee's aim to restore trust with North Korea includes halting propaganda broadcasts and dismantling loudspeakers along the border, steps which North Korea has dismissed as insufficient. Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has rejected South Korean overtures, indicating that the North is unlikely to reciprocate these efforts for peace and dialogue, citing ongoing tensions from their military exercises and cross-border activities, according to Reuters and Reuters.

The deterioration of inter-Korean relations has been exacerbated by North Korea's nuclear weapons program and its increasing alignment with Russia. Kim Jong-un recently commended this partnership, framing it as a historical alliance against perceived threats from the West, thereby complicating any likelihood of diplomatic thaw with the South, according to Anadolu Agency and SCMP.