South Korea's Lee orders implementation of agreements with North Korea

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A North Korean guard post is seen in this picture taken near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

SEOUL  -  South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who has been seeking to improve strained relations with Pyongyang, ordered on Monday his cabinet to prepare a partial step-by-step implementation of existing agreements with North Korea.

Lee did not specify which agreements he was referring to, but the president said on Friday that Seoul intends to restore a 2018 agreement that has since fallen apart to suspend some military activity along the border with North Korea. 

"Relations between South and North Korea are crucial in order to protect the national interests of South Korea and expand the space to operate diplomatically in the face of rapidly changing external conditions," Lee said during a cabinet meeting on Monday. 

"Relevant ministries, please prepare for phased implementation of existing inter-Korean agreements starting from wherever possible." 

Since entering office in June, Lee's government has sought to improve relations between neighbours still technically at war, though so far top North Korean officials have dismissed in state media overtures taken by the liberal president.

 (Reporting by Joyce LeeEditing by Ed Davies // REUTERS)