South Korea’s President to Pursue Three-Stage Denuclearisation Strategy for North Korea

SEOUL, Aug 21 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung has said he will pursue a three-stage denuclearisation plan for North Korea, with Seoul approaching the strategy through active dialogue with Pyongyang based on its solid alliance with the United States (US).

In an interview with Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun ahead of his visit to Tokyo for summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Lee said the first stage would aim to freeze North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.

The second and final stage would focus on reducing and dismantling the nuclear programme, according to a script of the interview released by the presidential office.

Lee said South Korea, while maintaining close coordination with the US, would actively pursue inter-Korean dialogue to help achieve the goal.

It marked the first time that Lee, who took office in June, announced the three-stage plan to persuade North Korea to eliminate its nuclear weapons.

In recent days, North Korea has rejected Lee’s peace overtures, saying Seoul could not be a diplomatic partner.

Following his summit with Ishiba, Lee will travel to Washington for his first summit with US President Donald Trump on Aug 25.

In the interview, Lee also proposed developing an Arctic shipping route as a potential area of cooperation among the two Koreas, the US, Japan and Russia.

On relations with Japan, Lee said his government would uphold past agreements on wartime forced labour and former sex slaves for Japanese troops, euphemistically called “comfort women.”

“It is very difficult for the South Korean people to accept these agreements,” he told the newspaper. “But as they are promises made between countries, it would be undesirable to overturn them.”

Although Lee had previously criticised the agreements, he said that as president he intends to honour them in the interest of bilateral ties, stressing his duty to ensure policy consistency and maintain national trust while also considering the views of the public, victims and bereaved families.

Regarding Tokyo’s request to lift import restrictions on seafood from eight Japanese prefectures, Lee said he remains cautious, citing lingering safety concerns among South Koreans.

On China, Lee described it as “a close country, inseparable geographically and economically,” adding that Seoul seeks to cooperate where possible and compete where necessary, based on comprehensive considerations between the two neighbours, according to the summary.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP