Lee proposes Trump meet North Korean leader with APEC summit as one option

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump on Monday agreed on the need to revive dialogue with North Korea as a path to stabilizing the Korean Peninsula.

Their accord during the first summit has raised expectations that the forthcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea could provide momentum for resurrecting long-stalled talks between Pyongyang and Washington.

Lee admitted that his role alone is not sufficient to restore inter-Korean ties and revive nuclear diplomacy, calling for Trump’s support. Trump expressed his intention to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this year.

Lee publicly proposed, “If you, Mr. President, become the peacemaker, then I will assist you as the pacemaker” — a sharp departure from the approach of the previous liberal Moon Jae-in administration, which sought to spearhead nuclear diplomacy.

During a closed-door meeting, Lee urged Trump to attend the APEC summit, which is set to take place in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Monday following the meeting.

Lee also"suggested pursuing a meeting with chairman of the State Affairs Commission, Kim Jong-un, if possible," on the occasion of the summit with Trump, who"lauded President Lee’s proposal on several occasions,” Kang explained.

Lee’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac further clarified Monday that President Lee proposed reviving dialogue with North Korea during the luncheon with Trump, citing the urgency of halting Pyongyang’s continued advancement of nuclear and missile capabilities.

“The president seemed to hold the view that such a situation is undesirable, that it must somehow be stopped, and furthermore, that it must be reversed,” Wi told reporters during a press briefing. “There was, on the whole, a shared understanding (between the two leaders).”

Wi then explained the rationale behind Lee’s proposal to Trump of leveraging the APEC summit as a means to kick-start dialogue with North Korea, and ultimately halt its nuclear and missile development.

“Someone should open the door (for reviving dialogue) to that end, but (Lee) consulted with (Trump) in view of the fact that US-North Korea ties have a greater chance than inter-Korean ties when cool-headedly assessing the current situation,” Wi said. “Therefore, the APEC summit was brought up as one occasion.”

Wi also clarified that such a proposal is still at the “early stage of planning — the task requires further consultation and needs to be fleshed out.”

However, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Tuesday played down the potential of facilitating a meeting between Trump and Kim on the margins of the APEC summit.

Chung said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s “actual attendance at the APEC summit is unrealistic.”

“Since President Trump will be visiting South Korea and is unlikely to return next year, we should make use of this occasion,” Chung said when asked about the potential for a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

“For such a meeting to take place, some common ground needs to be found. Right now, there isn’t any,” Chung added.

However, Chung underscored that the Lee-Trump summit demonstrated a “shared perception and methodology between the two leaders regarding the Korean Peninsula peace strategy, which is resolution through dialogue,” raising expectations for an expeditious resumption of US-North Korea summitry.

“Since (Trump) said he will meet (Kim) within this year, the right conditions will have to be created,” Chung said.

In mid-August, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun also explained that North Korea “will likely demand that Washington recognize and accept its status as a nuclear-weapon state if North Korea engages in dialogue with the US.”

Cho further pointed out that"a push-and-pull between the two sides is inevitable," given that the US maintains that North Korea cannot possess nuclear weapons.

Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Party Central Committee, said in a July 29 press statement that negotiations aimed at achieving denuclearization between Pyongyang and Washington cannot be realized.

Kim stressed that the two sides cannot return to the pattern of nuclear talks held from 2018 to 2019.

“If the US cannot accept the changed reality and clings only to its failed past, a meeting between the DPRK and the US will remain nothing more than the US’ 'hope,’” Kim said, referring to North Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.