South Korea’s new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, says he will seek to restore a 2018 military agreement with North Korea aimed at reducing border tensions and urged Pyongyang to respond to Seoul’s efforts to rebuild trust and revive dialogue.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung vowed Friday to "respect" North Korea's political system and build "military trust", a day after Pyongyang said it had no interest in improving relations with Seoul.

The 2018 military accord was designed to curb the risk of inadvertent clashes, but broke down after a spike in tensions. The so-called Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) signed between the two Koreas was the most substantive deal to result from months of historic meetings between leader Kim Jong Un and then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in.