South Korean leader pledges to prevent war ‘at all costs’

THERE will be no war on the Korean peninsula, Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president, said yesterday, as Seoul effectively has a veto over US military action in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.

Tensions have escalated in recent months, with Pyongyang carrying out its first successful tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile, bringing much of the US within range.

Last week it threatened to send a salvo of rockets towards the US territory of Guam, while Donald Trump promised “fire and fury”.

The intense rhetoric on both sides has raised fears of a miscalculation leading to catastrophic consequences – Pyongyang has vast artillery forces deployed within range of Seoul, where millions of people live.

But Mr Moon said: “I will prevent war at all costs. I want all South Koreans to believe with confidence that there will be no war,” he said as he marked his first 100 days in office.

The United States has been the South’s security guarantor since the end of the Korean War in 1953, which left the peninsula divided and technically still in a state of conflict with no peace treaty signed.

Washington has 28,500 troops stationed in the country to protect it from the North. But Mr Moon said Washington had agreed that “no matter what option they take about North Korea, all decisions will be made after consulting with and getting agreement with the Republic of Korea”.

He said: “All South Koreans have worked so hard together to rebuild the country from the ruins of the Korean War. We can’t lose everything with another war.”