The Republic of Korea (ROK) is seeking renewed dialogue with North Korea and wants Allies and Partners to support its diplomatic effort.
Restoring communication with North Korea will be a starting point for “peaceful coexistence” between Seoul and Pyongyang, ROK President Lee Jae-myung said in early December 2025. A day later, ROK Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Eui-hae called for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to support the efforts, which include Lee’s goal regarding North Korea, known as “End” for exchange, normalization and denuclearization.
The ASEAN-ROK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership adopted in October 2024 includes provisions for the 11-member association to support “ROK’s efforts in resuming peaceful dialogue and continuing working towards the realisation of lasting peace and stability in a denuclearised, peaceful, and prosperous Korean Peninsula, and welcoming the ROK’s endeavors towards this end.”
Meanwhile, longtime Allies’ the ROK and the United States are working to coordinate their North Korea policy, the ROK Foreign Ministry said in mid-December 2025. “Through the meeting, we plan to discuss overall policy toward North Korea, including ways to bring the North back to the dialogue table,” ministry spokesperson Park Il said.
Dialogue between the North and South, coupled with strong deterrence, is considered key to avoiding hostilities. Concerns over North Korea have increased since the regime in 2023 began sending weapons and thousands of troops to aid Russia’s war with Ukraine. In return, Russia is believed to have provided Pyongyang with money, oil and technological assistance for its nuclear weapons program, a violation of long-standing United Nations Security Council resolutions prohibiting North Korea’s weapons development.
North Korea cut off communication with South Korea in 2020, citing activists sending leaflets critical of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un across the border. As goodwill gestures, the Lee administration suspended loudspeaker broadcasts along the border and urged civic groups to end their leaflet campaigns.
Seoul proposed military talks with Pyongyang in mid-November 2025 to discuss delineating a boundary along the Military Demarcation Line to prevent border clashes. It was the first such offer in seven years. North Korea had not responded as of mid-December.
There have been more than 10 border intrusions by North Korean soldiers in 2025, some prompting warning shots by ROK troops under an established protocol, according to the Reuters news service.
Deterrence efforts include joint ROK-U.S. military exercises such as Ulchi Freedom Shield in August 2025, the ROK-led large-scale field training exercise Hoguk in November and the monthlong anti-submarine drill Silent Shark that concluded in mid-December.
“Combined South Korea-U.S. exercises have important implications not only militarily but also for inter-Korean relations and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula,” said Yoon Min-ho, spokesperson for the ROK Unification Ministry, which manages relations with Pyongyang.
Recent agreements on trade, defense and cooperation on nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines also demonstrate how the U.S. is supporting Seoul’s long-term military and industrial capabilities.
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