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Ulviyya Poladova

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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on North Korea to begin talks aimed at ending the military conflict on the Korean Peninsula, AzerNEWS reports, citing Yonhap.

"Let us set aside our intentions to threaten each other and begin direct discussions as parties involved on how to bring an end to this prolonged war," Lee said.

He pledged to transform the energy of hostility and confrontation into a driving force for peaceful coexistence and shared prosperity.

Lee also said he wants to discuss steps that could lead to a freeze of North Korea's nuclear program. He emphasized his intention to replace the peninsula's "unstable armistice system" with a lasting peace.

Lee Jae Myung, who became South Korean president last year after his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached for attempting to declare martial law, has sought to thaw relations with North Korea and its ally China, which had soured under Yoon.

North Korea has yet to react to Lee's offer.