South Korean Prime Minister Renews Pledge to Pursue Inter-Korean Dialogue
Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said the government would continue working to reopen dialogue with North Korea and pursue peaceful coexistence, while emphasizing the continuing pain of displaced people and separated families.
SEOUL — Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said Sunday that South Korea’s government will keep working to create the conditions for renewed dialogue with North Korea and to advance peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula.
Han made the remarks at a sporting event in Seoul for people displaced from North Korea. She said the government would seek to open the door to communication between Seoul and Pyongyang and pursue talks centered on peace and shared prosperity.
The prime minister described the division of the peninsula as an enduring reality rather than a matter confined to the past. She also emphasized that the hardship experienced by displaced residents and families separated by the division remains ongoing. Her comments linked the government’s diplomatic objective to the lives of people who continue to bear the human consequences of the separation.
Han said efforts to establish a path toward peaceful coexistence between South and North Korea could not be allowed to stop. She asked those attending the event to support the government’s work to build peace. She also thanked displaced residents for their contributions to South Korea’s economic development and democratization.
The speech restated the government’s commitment to engagement but did not announce a proposed meeting, a timetable for talks or a new communication channel with Pyongyang. Instead, Han framed dialogue as a continuing goal that requires groundwork before formal discussions can resume.
Her remarks placed both peace and joint prosperity at the center of that approach. By addressing an audience with direct ties to the history of division, the prime minister also underscored the domestic and humanitarian dimensions of inter-Korean policy.
The statement comes as the government seeks to keep open the possibility of future contact despite the absence of a newly announced negotiating process. Han’s message was that division remains unresolved, its effects continue across generations, and South Korea should persist in efforts aimed at reducing tensions and reopening discussion.
No immediate response from North Korea was included in the announcement, and the prime minister did not specify what steps would next be taken to prepare for dialogue. The remarks therefore represent a declaration of policy intent rather than the launch of a formal initiative.