SAEDNEWS: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said he has asked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to play a mediation role as his government seeks to improve relations with the North and restart talks over its nuclear program.
Speaking in Shanghai on Wednesday at the conclusion of a four-day state visit to China, South Korean President Lee proposed a freeze on North Korea’s nuclear program in exchange for what he described as “compensation or some form of return,” according to Al Jazeera.
Lee said that maintaining the current level of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities—without further production of nuclear weapons, transfer of nuclear materials abroad, or additional development of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)—would already represent meaningful progress.
“Just stopping at the current level would already be a gain,” Lee told reporters following meetings with senior Chinese officials, including his second meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in two months.
He added that if such a freeze were achieved, gradual reductions could follow in the medium term. “In the long term, we must not give up the goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula,” Lee said.
The remarks came on the final day of Lee’s visit, which marked the first state visit by a South Korean leader to China in six years. The trip aimed to reset bilateral relations after years of tension stemming from South Korea’s deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in 2017.
Lee said significant progress had been made in rebuilding trust and that he had asked Xi to play a mediating role on issues related to the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea’s nuclear program.
“All our channels are completely blocked,” Lee said. “We hope China can serve as a mediator for peace.”
According to Lee, Xi urged Seoul to exercise patience in its dealings with Pyongyang, citing the increasingly strained relations between the two Koreas.
“And they’re right,” Lee said. “For quite a long period, we carried out military actions that North Korea would have perceived as threatening.”
Meanwhile, South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol, who was removed from office, has been indicted over allegations that he attempted to provoke military confrontation with North Korea in order to consolidate political power.
On Monday, North Korea confirmed it had conducted test flights of hypersonic missiles. Leader Kim Jong Un said the tests were necessary to “expand the nuclear deterrent” in response to what he called a “recent geopolitical crisis,” an apparent reference to U.S. actions against Venezuela, including attacks and the reported abduction of President Nicolas Maduro.
