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8h ago

Lee Advances Phased Revival of 2018 Inter-Korean Military Pact

Ministries have been instructed to restore military communications in phases under a new strategy that also sets out a freeze-to-dismantlement denuclearization plan ahead of the Aug.25 summit with President Trump.

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young speaks to the National Assembly's foreign affairs and unification committee in Seoul on Aug. 18, 2025. (Yonhap)
President Lee Jae Myung presides over a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, on Aug. 18, 2025. (Yonhap)
Unification ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam speaks during a press briefing in Seoul on Aug. 18, 2025. (Yonhap)
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Overview

  • President Lee Jae Myung directed the defense, foreign and unification ministries to prepare step-by-step implementation of the suspended Sept.19, 2018 military tension-reduction pact.
  • Unification Minister Chung Dong-young pledged incremental reinstatement of inter-Korean military communications and confidence-building measures, contingent on reciprocal steps by Pyongyang.
  • Foreign Minister Cho Hyun unveiled a sequenced denuclearization roadmap for North Korea moving from freeze to reduction to dismantlement and emphasized parallel inter-Korean and US-North Korea talks.
  • Seoul signaled openness to US demands for alliance modernization by indicating plans to raise defense spending modestly and strengthen joint capabilities.
  • North Korea’s Kim Yo-jong rejected the overtures as a “shabby, deceptive farce,” leaving Seoul’s phased confidence-building efforts dependent on a reciprocal response.