Overview
- Unification Minister Chung Dong-young announced the policy shift on Thursday, saying the Lee administration has dropped a strict 'denuclearisation first' precondition to restart dialogue with Pyongyang.
- Seoul is developing a concrete freeze-or-halt strategy that would aim to stop new nuclear manufacturing, targeting activities such as enrichment at Yongbyon in return for stepped reciprocal benefits.
- Chung warned that North Korea continues to operate centrifuges and a plutonium reactor and is expanding its warhead capacity, even as Pyongyang has shown little interest in immediate talks.
- The government says Washington and Beijing have moved away from insistence on immediate dismantlement, and Seoul plans to press diplomatic channels ahead of expected U.S.–China engagement to create openings for Pyongyang.
- The shift also includes a proposed political reframing—using a 'peaceful two‑state' phase and the name 'Choson' for the North—that is under expert review and could change how Koreans and diplomats talk about relations and reconciliation.