President Lee Jae-myung said that US President Donald Trump clearly wants dialogue with Pyongyang and confirmed Seoul will not be deploying troops to intervene militarily in the Iran war.
Trump, seeking to revive the bond he claims to have forged with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in his first term, said last month that he plans to meet Kim later this year.
The US president also said it was important to “get along” with Kim, adding that Pyongyang now had 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons. Seoul says there are around 80 to 120.
North Korea, which has secured critical backing from Russia in recent years, did not clearly respond to Trump’s overtures.
Lee said yesterday it was “clear” that “Trump wants dialogue, and I am also urging President Trump to engage in dialogue.”
South Korea – which Pyongyang has repeatedly labelled as its enemy – was continuing “preliminary coordination efforts” to facilitate dialogue between North Korea and the United States, Lee told reporters.
He added that arranging such a meeting “remains difficult ... but not impossible.”
“I cannot say for certain how likely it is, but it is also clear that we must make every possible effort to turn that possibility into reality,” he said.
South Korea and the United States held a shorter edition of their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises last month, following an order from Trump to scale them back.
The truncated drills and Trump’s overtures to Pyongyang have raised concerns that Seoul could be sidelined in potential nuclear talks involving the North.
Seoul has also committed to US$350bil (RM1.43 trillion) in US investments to avoid the worst of Trump’s tariffs, but specific projects and final terms are still being negotiated. — AFP
