SHANGHAI: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday (Jan 7) he had urged Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help him curb Pyongyang’s nuclear programme and suggested a freeze in its development of weapons of mass destruction was “feasible” with the right conditions.
Lee’s visit this week was the first by a South Korean leader to China in six years, with Seoul seeking a broad reset in relations with its largest trading partner as well as help with the recalcitrant North.
He met with Xi in Beijing on Monday – a day after the nuclear-armed North fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.
Speaking to journalists in Shanghai as he wrapped up the visit, he said he had urged Beijing’s help in bringing Pyongyang back to the negotiating table.
He told Xi he would “like China to play a mediating role on issues related to the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea’s nuclear programme”.
“All our channels are completely blocked,” he said.
“We hope China can serve as a mediator – a mediator for peace,” he added.
The Chinese leader in response urged Seoul to show “patience” with Pyongyang given how frayed ties between the two Koreas have become, Lee added.
“And they’re right. For quite a long period, we carried out military actions that North Korea would have perceived as threatening,” Lee said.
The South Korean leader also laid out a plan whereby Pyongyang would freeze its nuclear programme in exchange for “compensation”.
“Just stopping at the current level – no additional production of nuclear weapons, no transfer of nuclear materials abroad, and no further development of ICBMs – would already be a gain,” he said, referring to Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.
“In the long term, we must not give up the goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula,” he added.
Source: CNA
