South Korea's Lee Urges NKorea Talks, Vows Nuclear Subs — SkimNews
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- Lee Jae Myung used his October 1, 2026 Armed Forces Day address to call on North Korea to 'restore trust and resume dialogue' following a long interruption in inter-Korean engagement, while pledging 'practical measures to reduce military tensions.'
- The overture came a day after South Korea's military and the UN Command concluded that a landmine blast in the DMZ that wounded three South Korean soldiers amounted to an armistice violation by North Korea.
- Kim Yo Jong rejected those findings on September 30, 2026, accused Seoul of fabricating the results, and warned of retaliation.
- Lee unveiled plans to build nuclear-powered submarines by the mid-2030s and upgrade missile defence with AI-based command-and-control systems and high-energy laser interceptors.
- Lee reaffirmed his goal of transferring wartime operational control (OPCON) from the United States to South Korea as part of a push for self-reliant national defence.
- Despite the overture, North Korea has largely rejected Seoul's engagement offers while continuing border fortification work along the DMZ.
Why it matters: Lee paired his dialogue appeal with South Korea's most concrete military buildup announcement in years: nuclear-powered submarines by the mid-2030s, AI command-and-control, and high-energy laser interceptors. With Kim Yo Jong rejecting the landmine findings and Pyongyang continuing DMZ fortification, the hardware investment is the policy that actually moves while the dialogue call has no takers.
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