Seoul: South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said his country will take consistent measures to ease tensions with North Korea and will take steps to restore the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Lee’s speech, marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japanese colonial rule between 1910 and 1945, came a day after Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, rejected the Lee administration’s latest reconciliation initiative, describing it as a “far-fetched dream.”

Lee extended an olive branch to North Korea and outlined his vision for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a speech marking Liberation Day. “We affirm our respect for the current regime in the North, affirm that we will not seek any form of unification through assimilation, and affirm that we do not intend to engage in any hostile acts,” Lee said during a ceremony at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.

To prevent accidental clashes between the two Koreas and build military trust, Lee said that South Korea will take “proactive and gradual steps” to restore the 2018 military de-escalation agreement. However, Lee made clear that North Korea’s denuclearization must be achieved for a peaceful Korean Peninsula. He said, “A peaceful Korean Peninsula must be free of nuclear weapons and based on friendly cooperation with neighboring countries.”