At UN debut, South Korea’s President Lee proposes initiative to end ‘Cold War’ on Korean Peninsula

NEW YORK — South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung proposed a bold new initiative to end hostilities and bring about peace on the Korean Peninsula, centered on “exchanges, normalization and denuclearization,” in his first address at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 23.

“The most certain peace is a state where there is no need to fight,” Lee said as he made his debut at the United Nations, delivering an address at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.

Lee called to “end the era of hostility and confrontation on the Korean Peninsula and usher in a new era of peaceful coexistence and shared growth” through comprehensive dialogue with Pyongyang centered on “exchange,” “normalization” and “denuclearization,” or the so-called “END initiative.”

He reaffirmed that his government respects the current North Korean regime, pledging that it will not pursue any form of unification by absorption, and that it has no intention of engaging in hostile acts.

“The Republic of Korea will end the Cold War on the Korean Peninsula through the ‘END initiative’ and fulfill its responsibility and role to contribute to world peace and prosperity,” Lee said. This marks the first time Lee has publicly named his peace initiative towards North Korea, though he previously proposed a three-stage phased denuclearization approach comprised of freezing, reducing and eventually dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

Lee’s address comes as more than 150 world leaders gathered to attend the annual General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York. He was the seventh world leader to make an address on the first day of the general debate.

He noted that since taking office in June, his administration has proactively taken measures to help end the “vicious cycle of unnecessary inter-Korean military tension and hostile acts,” including halting the launches of propaganda leaflets and suspending broadcasts toward the North.

“By gradually expanding inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation, we will pave the way for sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Lee said, asking the international community to join the two Koreas to work together towards this end.

Lee said while striving to advance inter-Korean relations, Seoul will actively support efforts to normalize relations with the international community including between North Korea and the United States.

“It is time to seek realistic and rational solutions based on a cool-headed perception that denuclearization cannot be achieved in the short term,” Lee said, while acknowledging denuclearization remains a “grave task.”

He urged the international community to take a “pragmatic and phased solution” beginning with a “stop” in North Korea’s sophistication of nuclear and missile capabilities, undergoing a “reduction” process and reaching “dismantlement.”

He said that realizing lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula is “by no means an impossible dream,” saying that Seoul will consistently seek a path to reduce military tensions and restore inter-Korean trust.

Lee said that peace is the “basic foundation for democracy and economic development.”

Lee also noted that South Korea’s success as a democratic nation shows the “value of the UN’s existence” as it marks its 80th anniversary.

Lee recalled Korea’s history of liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule coinciding with the “very year that the United Nations was founded,” noting that “the Republic of Korea emerged from the scars of division and ashes of war through UN assistance, maintaining national identity while achieving industrialization and blooming into a democracy.”

He underscored how South Korea has risen with “indomitable strength” each time democracy and peace were in crisis.

“Even a self-coup could not break the people of the Republic of Korea’s strong will desiring democracy and peace,” Lee said, referring to ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law last December.

“‘The revolution of light’ that the people of the Republic of Korea achieved against the darkness of the insurrection last winter was a historic moment that demonstrated the brilliant achievement of the UN spirit,” Lee said.

Lee then declared that a “new Republic of Korea, which will be a beacon of light for global citizens, has completely returned to the international community.”

Likewise, Lee that a democratic South Korea “will lead the way in multilateral cooperation toward a sustainable future.” He noted that South Korea is fulfilling its responsibility as a key contributor to the UN’s peacekeeping and peacebuilding activities.

He also highlighted that South Korea developed from an aid recipient country to a donor country.

Threats to peace go beyond physical elements and called for the need to confront “invisible enemies,” Lee noted, adding that artificial intelligence (AI) technology is critical to security capabilities as cyberattacks threaten national security.

Lee said South Korea is pursuing a “great energy transition,” leveraging its science and technology and digital innovation to increase energy efficiency and expand renewable energy options.

“We will strive to ensure that the vision of ‘AI for all,’ where advances in cutting-edge technology contribute to the universal values of humanity, becomes the ‘new normal’ for the international community,” Lee said in his General Assembly address.

Lee further highlighted how K-culture is “connecting people all over the world beyond borders, language and cultural differences,” showing that “universal empathy is possible.”

He pledged that South Korea “will boldly lead the way toward a new era of peaceful coexistence and shared growth on the Korean Peninsula, toward a better future together.”

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]