South Korean President Lee Jae Myung invited longtime rival North Korea on Sunday to return to the negotiating table with the US and join efforts to shape a "new future," Yonhap News reported.
"Since North Korea is formulating and implementing a new five-year plan, I hope that it will swiftly return to the negotiating table and join us in shaping a new future," Lee said in an address to a ceremony to mark the 107th anniversary of the nation's 1919 independence movement, a watershed moment during Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
"As a 'pacemaker,' we will communicate with the United States and neighboring countries to ensure that dialogue between North Korea and the United States resumes as soon as possible," he said.
Lee said his government respects the North Korean system and will not pursue any form of unification by absorption nor engage in any hostile acts.
Dismissing dialogue with South Korea, North Korea appeared to leave the door open for talks with Washington at a key party congress last month.
Russia and North Korea have bolstered their defense cooperation in recent years, with the two sides last year signing a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement, requiring their militaries to support each other in case of a third-party attack on either of the two.
In a separate development, South Korean military intelligence on Sunday claimed that North Korea is believed to have shipped 33,000 containers of military supplies, including weapons and ammunition, to Russia as part of its support for Moscow in its war with Ukraine.
The Defense Intelligence Agency said in a report that the shipped volume, in terms of ammunition, could amount to more than 15 million 152-mm artillery shells.
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow and Pyongyang about the claim.
