[Text/Observer Network Qi Qian]
On September 22, South Korea’s President Li traveled to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly and currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council.
According to BBC News, Lee was interviewed by the BBC in Seoul before his departure, discussing the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the relations of South Korea with China, Russia and the United States under the emerging international order.
In the exclusive interview, Lee Jae-myung called on the United States and the DPRK to resume nuclear negotiations, and proposed that the DPRK freeze its nuclear weapons production instead of completely destroying them.
Lee Jae-myung said that "the world is splitting into two camps" and South Korea is in a dangerous position. He also claimed that seeing China, Russia and the DPRK so close makes it difficult for South Korea to do it.
North Korea could freeze nuclear weapons production
Since taking office in June this year, Lee Jae-myung's government hopes to establish peaceful relations with North Korea and reduce tensions.
Lee Jae-myung told the BBC that he was doing everything he could to repair the trust with North Korea. For example, he ordered the stop of South Korea's transmission of radio programs to North Korea.
“We judge [these broadcasts] have little practical effect,” Li said in response to relevant criticisms and questions, noting that any of the benefits that could be obtained from doing so were not sufficient to offset the cost of angering North Korea.
He insisted that “it is important to restore trust between the two countries, especially given the previous government’s position of such hostility toward North Korea.”
Lee Jae-myung has been publicly calling on US President Trump and North Korean State Councilor Kim Jong Un to resume nuclear negotiations. According to reports, during Trump's first term in 2019, the negotiations broke down because the United States asked North Korea to dismantle its nuclear facilities.
Lee receives an interview with BBC. Video screenshot
Lee said he believes Trump and Kim could resume talks because they "seem to have some degree of mutual trust", adding that this would benefit South Korea and contribute to global peace and security.
At the same time, Lee Jae-myung proposed that North Korea could freeze its nuclear weapons production instead of completely destroying them. He said that North Korea produces 15 to 20 additional nuclear weapons every year, and freezing as a "temporary emergency measure" will be a "feasible and realistic alternative" to denuclearization at present.
“As long as we don’t give up on the long-term goal of denuclearization, I believe that North Korea’s stopping nuclear missile development will bring clear benefits,” Li said, “the key is whether we choose to stick to the ultimate goal and make fruitless efforts, or set more realistic goals and some of them.”
According to the Korean Central News Agency, Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Council, said on the 21st that North Korea will clearly stipulate in its national laws that North Korea and South Korea are two different countries and will never merge into one country.
Kim Jong-un stressed that North Korea's transition to a nuclear state is the inevitable choice for the country's survival. North Korea will never give up nuclear weapons, nor will it ever negotiate with its opponents to understand the removal of sanctions. However, if the United States gives up its attachment to denuclearization, acknowledges the reality, and seeks real peaceful coexistence with North Korea, there is no reason for North Korea not to negotiate with the United States.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jianquan said on the 22nd that China is concerned about the development of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and promoting the political settlement process on the Korean Peninsula, in line with the common interests of all parties.
Lee is clear: Seeing the Chinese-Russian dynasty so close, Korea is hard to do.
On September 3, China held a grand parade in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people's war against Japan and the world anti-fascist war. Foreign guests such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Secretary General of the Labour Party of Korea, and Chief of State Kim Jong Un were invited to attend the parade.
Regarding the close relationship demonstrated by China, Russia and the DPRK at the military parade, Lee Jae-myung said that this put South Korea in a "very difficult situation".
“Seeing China, Russia and North Korea getting so close is obviously not what we want to see,” Li said, saying he might respond by continuing to work closely with the United States and Japan.
As early as the September 4th routine press conference, Guo Jiangkun responded to the relevant questions, China invited foreign guests to China to attend the relevant events, in order to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people in the war of resistance to Japan and the world war against fascism, in order to join hands with peace-loving countries and people, together to remember history, remember the first, cherish peace, and create a future.
Guo Jiangkun stressed that China has developed diplomatic relations with any country and has never targeted third parties.
The BBC said that Lee Jae-myung recently said that he would stand with the United States in the emerging world order. But in this conversation with Lee Jae-myung, it was obvious that he wanted to avoid making enemies, carefully choose words and positions, and try to skillfully navigate South Korea's position in a changing world.
“The world is being divided into two camps, and South Korea is just on the edge,” Li said in a statement, saying his country is “in a really dangerous position because of its proximity to China and Russia.” he said, “This situation is getting more and more difficult.
The report also said that Lee was cautious and “even cautious” when speaking clearly about geopolitical issues and did not completely abandon the future relationship with Russia. He said: “It is clear that Russia’s ‘invasion’ of Ukraine should be condemned and the war must end as soon as possible. But relations between countries are not simple, we are looking for ways to cooperate wherever possible and strive to coexist peacefully.”
South Korea has been holding the rotating chairmanship of the UN Security Council since September.Lee said in a speech to the Security Council, “It is clear that the UN is deficient in creating a truly peaceful world, but I still believe it is performing many important functions,” adding that reforming the Security Council is “not very realistic.”
After the Trump administration took office, the risk of excessive reliance on the United States has never been so obvious, and the world has been involved in the trade war launched by Trump, regardless of the “enemy,” though Lee would cut U.S. tariffs on South Korea to 15 percent, the trade talks between the two countries have since stalled and the two sides have failed to agree on the terms of the agreement.
Just two weeks ago, the U.S. immigration agency arrested 475 workers at a modern automobile factory in Georgia, and called them “illegal immigrants.” South Korea said about 300 of the arrested were Korean citizens.
Scene map of USCIS agents raid South Korean factory Video screenshot
Although more than 300 South Korean workers have been released and returned to South Korea, South Korean society has begun to question the correctness of the decision to invest in the United States.
“As president, I feel a profound responsibility for the harsh treatment our citizens suffered,” Lee said in an interview, which was “shocking.”
But Lee said at the same time that he believes that the United States and South Korea can use the incident to strengthen relations between the two countries.
"There is a Korean proverb in Korea that says, 'The ground is harder after the rain,'" he said.
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