President Lee Jae-myung: 'Salute Trump's Decision... Will Do My Best as a Pacemaker'

[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung expressed his "respect for the decision" of U.S. President Donald Trump, who ordered a scale-back of the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises. He also expressed expectations for the resumption of North Korea-U.S. dialogue, stating that he will do his best to serve as a pacemaker supporting President Trump. Meeting with President Lee today, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi repeatedly emphasized that the U.S. needs to change its North Korea policy.

Reporter Kim Hye-young has the story.

[Reporter]

This is a message posted on social media by President Lee Jae-myung last night (August 19).

Stating that he shares the will and efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump to create conditions for peace on the Korean Peninsula, even by scaling down South Korea-U.S. joint drills, President Lee wrote, "I express my respect for that decision."

He went on to say, "I hope that President Trump's decision will lead to the establishment of a stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, following the building of trust and the resumption of dialogue between North Korea and the United States." He emphasized that he himself "will do his best in the role of a pacemaker facilitating President Trump's peacemaker activities."

President Lee met with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the presidential office today.

Assessing that South Korea-China relations are being "fully restored," he asked Minister Wang to maintain close communication with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and National Security Office Director Wi Sung-lac regarding pending issues on the Korean Peninsula.

During yesterday's South Korea-China foreign ministerial talks as well, the South Korean side explained President Lee's vision for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula announced on Liberation Day, and requested China's constructive role for North Korea's prompt return to dialogue.

Minister Wang placed emphasis on changes to U.S. North Korea policy today, following up on his remarks from yesterday.

[Wang Yi / Chinese Foreign Minister : (The North Korea-U.S. summit) is a matter for North Korea and the United States to decide. In particular, the United States must change its long-standing hostile policy toward North Korea.]

While the South Korean government attached significance to President Trump's moves toward North Korea and requested China's constructive role, China has kept its distance, maintaining the stance that a change in the U.S. hostile policy toward North Korea must come first.

(Video reporting: Cho Choon-dong, Video editing: Chang Hyun-ki, Design: Lee Jong-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.