Unification minister delivers opening remarks at Global Korea Forum

'A window of opportunity, not crisis'

Lee's three-pillar vision for peaceful coexistence, end to armistice regime

Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young attends a plenary session of the National Assembly's Budget and Accounts Committee on Monday and responds to questions from independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon. [Yonhap]
Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young attends a plenary session of the National Assembly's Budget and Accounts Committee on Monday and responds to questions from independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon. [Yonhap]

Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young on Thursday outlined a vision for South Korea to act as a "pacemaker" in reviving North Korea-US dialogue and ultimately steering the Korean Peninsula toward a peace regime through four-way talks involving the two Koreas, the United States and China.

Jeong delivered the remarks in his opening address at the 2026 Global Korea Forum (GKF), held at the Westin Chosun Seoul hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. He said President Lee Jae Myung, in his Liberation Day address this year, had laid out three pillars for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula: inclusive, stable and responsible peaceful coexistence.

"President Lee said that to fulfill responsible peaceful coexistence, he would embark on a journey to end the war and transform the unstable armistice regime into a peace regime," Jeong said. "As the first step of that journey, he proposed discussions among the parties to end a long-standing war, and said that through those discussions, effective measures to halt the advancement of the North's nuclear capabilities could also be explored."

Jeong noted that two days later, US President Donald Trump announced a reduction in combined South Korea-US military exercises — describing it as a bold decision for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula — and signaled his intent to resume North Korea-US dialogue before the end of the year. "Another great transformation is beginning," Jeong said. "A window of opportunity, not crisis, is opening."

He said South Korea must seize that opportunity without hesitation. "We must not stand still — we must keep moving to capture this golden opportunity for peace and create more opportunities," he said. "Above all, we must fulfill the role of pacemaker to bring about North Korea-US dialogue. Being a pacemaker means going one step ahead to open the path."

Jeong particularly warned against a passive posture and called for South Korea to proactively carve out its own diplomatic space. "Rather than sitting back and watching what the United States does, we must move proactively and dynamically to create space and bring about North Korea-US dialogue," he said. "We must concentrate all our capabilities to ensure that North Korea-US dialogue does not stop there but leads to four-way talks involving the two Koreas, the US and China."

He added that South Korea should use the preemptive and sustained peace measures and confidence-building steps President Lee had called for to facilitate both the bilateral and four-way talks, and that the government should develop concrete pan-government plans for discussions on a Korean Peninsula peace regime. "A peace regime will be a new path through which the peace that begins on the Korean Peninsula spreads beyond the region to the world," Jeong said. "It will be the way to end the unfinished war on the Korean Peninsula and ultimately advance toward a nuclear-free peninsula."


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