South Korean President Lee Jae Myung offered to support U.S. President Donald Trump’s outreach to North Korea, while analysts flagged security risks in a hypothetical missile deal that could leave South Korea and Japan exposed.
In an Aug. 19 social media post, Lee said he would play a “pacemaker” role in supporting Trump’s efforts to engage Pyongyang, according to an English-language account from the South Korean President’s Office. His statement backed U.S. outreach without endorsing a particular summit.
Lim Eun-jung, a professor of international studies at Kongju National University, told DW that restricting North Korea’s long-range missiles while leaving shorter-range weapons in place could still put South Korea and Japan at risk. She also warned that treating North Korea as a nuclear power could weaken efforts to achieve denuclearization. No U.S. proposal for such an arrangement has been confirmed.
Trump said Oct. 19, “I’m not sure that anybody’s asking for a meeting.” Reuters reported Oct. 23, citing five people familiar with the matter, that U.S. and South Korean officials saw the chances of a meeting fading and Washington had received no response from Pyongyang. A White House official told Reuters that Trump remained open to talks, but there was no meeting to announce.
At a closed-door parliamentary audit Thursday, Oct. 29, lawmakers said the National Intelligence Service (NIS) assessed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may have conveyed Pyongyang’s position on U.S. talks during a recent visit to China, Yonhap News Agency reported. The assessment did not confirm direct contact between Pyongyang and Washington. EconoTimes previously covered discussion of a possible Chinese role in restarting U.S.-North Korea talks.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area Thursday, Oct. 29. Separately, former South Korean politician Kim Sang-woo told DW that tariffs, trade restrictions and U.S. demands for Seoul to contribute more toward the cost of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea had weakened trust between the two governments.
At their 2018 Singapore summit, Trump and Kim set out goals for better relations, a peace framework and denuclearization. Their 2019 meeting in Hanoi ended without an agreement; Trump said signing one at that time was not appropriate.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting is scheduled for Nov. 18-19 in Shenzhen, China. No Trump-Kim meeting has been announced.
