President Lee: "We Will Respect and Cooperate with North Korea," Outlines Vision for Peaceful Coexistence

Delivering a keynote address at the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, local time, President Lee Jae-myung proposed a plan to respect and cooperate with North Korea while downsizing the North's nuclear and missile capabilities to achieve denuclearization.

President Lee continued, "We will embark on a new journey toward 'a Korean Peninsula of peaceful coexistence and shared growth,'" presenting three blueprints: "inclusive peaceful coexistence where we respect one another, stable peaceful coexistence where there is no need to fight, and responsible peaceful coexistence that contributes to world peace."

First, to achieve inclusive peaceful coexistence, he stated, "We will seek shared growth through cooperation based on respecting each other's systems and acknowledging differences between the two Koreas."

He added, "We will also respect the North on the international stage and cooperate on matters that call for cooperation."

For stable peaceful coexistence, he noted, "We will establish institutional mechanisms to prevent crises and control conflicts," mentioning the restoration of basic communication channels.

For responsible peaceful coexistence, he identified "ending the prolonged war on the Korean Peninsula and establishing a peace regime" as a key task.

President Lee also said, "We will lay the groundwork so that North Korea-U.S. dialogue can resume swiftly and develop into talks among the parties concerned to end the war on the Korean Peninsula and transition to a peace regime."

Regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, he explained, "I believe we can halt the advancement of North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities, downsize them in the medium term, and move toward a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula in the long term."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.