South Korea's Lee urges talks with North Korea to replace armistice with peace

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on Saturday for talks with ​North Korea to pursue peaceful coexistence, saying Seoul ‌would seek safeguards to prevent conflict and noting the need to replace the peninsula's armistice with a "peace regime".

In a speech marking the ​anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee ​said the two Koreas should hold a sit-down ⁠for coexistence.

He urged dialogue between North Korea and concerned ​parties to end the 1950-53 Korean War, which was stopped ​by a ceasefire, not a peace treaty, and said discussions could also explore effective measures to curb Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities.

Lee said Seoul would ​take preemptive and sustained steps to ease tensions and ​build layered safeguards to contain escalation.

Lee's call largely builds on his pledge ‌last ⁠year to respect North Korea's system and seek peaceful coexistence with Pyongyang.

Ties between North and South Korea remain frozen. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has abandoned Pyongyang's reunification ​policy, has described ​the South ⁠as its most hostile state and ordered stronger frontline defences.

North Korea has rebuffed Lee's engagement ​offers, criticised Seoul's plan for nuclear-powered submarines and ​denounced ⁠joint U.S.-South Korean military drills as provocations.

On relations with Japan, Lee called for confronting the past while leaving open the ⁠future, ​and said he hoped to launch ​a new 60 years of peace and prosperity with Japan as a "close neighbour".