Lee said Trump told him on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France it was “time to pay attention” to North Korea and appeared keen to resume dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, though was frustrated over how to proceed.
“Without giving up on denuclearisation, I explained that we should go step by step — short term, medium term and long term — rather than immediately,” Lee told a press briefing after returning from France.
Lee said the short-term goal should be stopping North Korea from producing additional nuclear material, transferring weapons or materials overseas, and further developing intercontinental ballistic missile technology.
Trump responded that it “could be one way” and that he would think carefully about it, Lee said.
Lee said he also told Trump that sanctions and pressure alone would not resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, as Pyongyang already appeared to have a certain number of nuclear weapons and was continuing to produce enough nuclear material to make around 10 to 20 nuclear weapons a year.
Its ICBM technology was also nearing the final stage, including re-entry capability, Lee said, adding that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia over the war in Ukraine had sharply reduced the effectiveness of sanctions.
Trump held unprecedented talks with Kim during his first term, but their second summit in Hanoi in 2019 collapsed over differences on denuclearisation steps and sanctions relief. Pyongyang has since taken a harder line, declaring its nuclear status irreversible and non-negotiable.
On shipbuilding, Lee said Trump asked whether South Korea could quickly build 10 U.S. warships.
“I said of course it was possible and that we would do our best,” Lee said.
Seoul has agreed to make $150 billion in shipbuilding investments in the U.S. led by South Korean companies under a trade deal with Washington.
Lee, who sat next to Trump for about 90 minutes at a G7 dinner in France, said the meeting allowed more extensive talks than a formal summit.
During his 10-day trip to Europe, Lee attended the G7 summit and held formal and informal talks with several world leaders, including Trump, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Separately, Lee said during his visit to the Vatican he asked Pope Leo to consider visiting the Demilitarized Zone that marks a buffer zone between the two Koreas and, if possible, North Korea.
The pontiff said he would actively consider and pursue the idea, Lee said.
(Reporting by Kyu-seok ShimEditing by Ed Davies)
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