South Korea says no talks if denuclearization demanded

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Thursday Seoul will not resume talks with North Korea if Pyongyang is asked to denuclearize first.

A South Korean court ordered North Korea to pay 44.6 billion won (about $32.5 million) for demolishing the Kaesong liaison office in June 2020, and Chung said the government will not pursue additional legal action because it is "practically impossible to execute a court ruling against North Korea." The North blew up the joint liaison office on June 16, 2020 and removed several South Korean-built tourism facilities at Mount Kumgang between 2019 and early 2025, the minister said.

"We cannot start any discussion by repeating the past approach; action first, compensation later, with denuclearisation as a precondition," Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said in an opening address to a ministry-hosted forum, arguing that conditioning talks on prior denuclearization would prevent dialogue from getting off the ground.

Basket approach to peace

Chung outlined a multi-track "basket" approach that bundles ending the Korean War, institutionalizing peaceful coexistence, normalizing relations between Washington and Pyongyang, halting North Korea's nuclear program and reviving inter-Korean economic cooperation. He said the Lee Jae Myung administration has pushed to replace the 1950-53 armistice with a formal peace regime.

Watch for a government reassessment of inter‑Korean engagement by October 31, 2026; that review will indicate whether Seoul can advance simultaneous, reciprocal measures on denuclearization, sanctions relief and economic projects.