65 years have passed since the Korean War ended with an armistice in 1953... and this year, the two Koreas hope to strike an end to the decades-long war.
South Korea is firm to declare an end to it within this year, but North Korea and the U.S. have differing views on whether nuclear disarmament has to come first.
Oh Jung-hee has more on how the parties can work towards ending the war... and whether that could help speed up Pyongyang's denuclearization.
The Korean War ended with an armistice agreement in 1953,... and since then, Korea remains the only divided nation in the world.
The people of the two Koreas live facing each other over a heavily militarized border.
It's not a 'complete peace' on the Korean Peninsula, but a 'temporary ceasefire' continuing for over six decades.

"65 years have passed since the 1953 armistice agreement and the two Koreas are moving to formally end that decades-long war. There was a previous attempt after the 2007 inter-Korean summit, but the latest attempt is stronger and is gaining momentum-- it was reaffirmed through the first-ever North Korea-U.S. summit... and the two Koreas have set a specific deadline of within this year."

July 27th, the anniversary of the armistice agreement, was seen as the most plausible date.
But the overall process slowed down... as Pyongyang and Washington face the question of what has to come first.
Washington is cautious about declaring the end of the war... as it may get rid of military options to pressure the North to denuclearize.
But Pyongyang wants the declaration first... as that gives the regime a security guarantee.

"The U.S. is concerned that North Korea may demand the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea. But North Korea won't ever accept a deal where it has to abandon all of its nukes first. Seoul should call on North Korea to come up with a detailed denuclearization schedule,... while speaking to the U.S. about how they'll reward the regime throughout the process. And the declaration on ending the war should cover denuclearization as well to satisfy Washington."

Pundits add... a war doesn't come to a formal end with a declaration only -- it has to be stipulated in the peace treaty.
The declaration itself does not have a legal binding power... but gives an assurance that the related parties will cooperate... which could accelerate North Korea's denuclearization.

"The goals of denuclearization and a peace treaty are both too big to deal with -- it's difficult to decide which has to be done first. The reason why the Panmunjom Declaration stipulated declaring an end to the Korean War within this year... was to give North Korea an assurance as soon as possible... that South Korea and the U.S. are taking confidence-building measures on their part. North Korea needs a reason to denuclearize.... and declaring an end to the war provides that reason."

Watchers point out that the two Koreas could first end an unusual decades-long armistice... and then