South Korea has abandoned its campaign prioritising pressure on the North to dismantle its nuclear weapons, a minister said on Thursday, marking a fresh overture by Seoul’s dovish government.
President Lee Jae Myung has reversed the stance of his hawkish predecessor since taking power in Seoul in June 2025, offering nuclear-armed Pyongyang talks without preconditions.
The hermetic leadership of North Korea has yet to respond to his repeated offers.
But in a Thursday meeting with local reporters, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said South Korea has shifted its priorities from disarmament, focusing instead on halting the expansion of Pyongyang’s nuclear activities.
“The government has effectively abandoned the previous administration’s denuclearisation-first approach and its insistence on the prior dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear programme,” he said according to a transcript of the meeting seen by AFP.
The long-term goal of denuclearisation remains unchanged, the minister said, but stymieing new developments will be the administration’s focus.
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