"Halting Nuclear Development for Sanctions Relief"... Speech at UN General Assembly to Follow

[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung has arrived in New York, the United States, where the United Nations General Assembly is taking place. In an interview with foreign media ahead of his overseas trip, President Lee proposed trading sanctions relief for a halt to North Korea's nuclear weapons development. Attention is focused on whether he will make specific remarks in his address to the UN General Assembly early tomorrow morning (September 23).

Kang Min-u reports from New York.

[Reporter]

An interview on North Korea policy, conducted last week with foreign media by President Lee Jae-myung during his visit to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, has been released.

President Lee stated, "Trading sanctions on North Korea, which have had little practical effect, for a halt to North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles holds significant value."

He also warned that North Korea has acquired the capacity to produce—or is already producing—10 to 20 additional nuclear weapons each year, and that the moment North Korea is tempted to make money by exporting them in the future will be truly dangerous.

Since sanctions aimed at isolating North Korea have seen diminished effectiveness due to shifts in the international landscape, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, he argued that North Korea should first be brought to the dialogue table, followed by freezing nuclear development and then progressing step by step toward restoring trust and arms reduction.

In another interview, he noted that both South Korea and the United States are "willing to engage in dialogue with North Korea without preconditions," prompting expectations that North Korea sanctions and North Korea-U.S. dialogue could also be addressed during a potential meeting with U.S. President Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

[Wi Sung-lac / National Security Adviser (yesterday, September 21): There will be separate contacts in various formats with leaders of major countries, including the United States and Australia.]

There is also keen interest in whether the leaders of South Korea and the United States will discuss investments in the U.S. ahead of an official announcement.

President Lee Jae-myung plans to unveil a vision for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula during his UN General Assembly address, and whether the international community, including the United States and North Korea, will respond favorably remains to be seen.

Camera by Jeong Sang-bo | Video Editing by Lee Seung-jin | Graphics by Cho SOOIN
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.