South Korean president urges Trump dialogue with Pyongyang

Seoul presses for renewed US-North Korea engagement

Usagevpn.com – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has called on US President Donald Trump to keep pursuing contact with Pyongyang, saying Washington and Seoul should work to turn a difficult diplomatic opening into a real opportunity.

Speaking to reporters at Seoul’s Blue House on Friday, Lee said Trump had made clear that he wanted dialogue with North Korea. The South Korean leader said his government was encouraging that approach while conducting early-stage coordination intended to support possible talks between the United States and the North.

“I cannot say for certain how likely it is, but it is also clear that we must make every possible effort to turn that possibility into reality,” Lee said.

He cautioned that arranging a meeting would not be straightforward, but stressed that the prospect could not be ruled out. For Seoul, any reopening of direct communication between Washington and Pyongyang would carry major implications for security on the Korean Peninsula, where North Korea’s nuclear programme remains a central source of regional tension.

Trump signals interest in another Kim meeting

Trump said in August that he planned to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this year, again pointing to the personal rapport he has described with Kim. No details were announced about the timing, location or format of a potential encounter. Such a meeting would be the first between the two leaders since Trump’s first term in the White House.

Trump argued at the time that his relationship with Kim should be viewed as useful rather than harmful, while referring to North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

“You know what, the fact that I get along with him, that’s a good thing not a bad thing. He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. Should have never allowed it to happen,” Trump said.

North Korea has not offered a substantial public response to Trump’s stated interest in meeting Kim. In recent years, Pyongyang has strengthened its ties with Russia, adding another dimension to the diplomatic landscape facing Washington and Seoul.

A new summit, if it materialised, would take place against a far more fraught backdrop than the earlier Trump-Kim meetings. Those talks generated intense international attention but did not produce a lasting agreement on North Korea’s nuclear weapons. Lee’s comments indicate that Seoul still sees value in preserving channels for diplomacy, even when immediate progress appears unlikely.

Military exercises remain a point of friction

Prospects for engagement have also been complicated by North Korea’s fierce objections to military activity involving the United States and South Korea. Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s sister and a prominent official in Pyongyang, issued a sharply worded statement on Friday condemning regional drills as a “US-led war rehearsal.”

Her statement, carried by North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency, accused the United States and its allies of stepping up hostile actions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the country’s official name. She suggested that Pyongyang would respond with measures of comparable or greater intensity.

“The present situation, in which new records are set in terms of practical action hostile toward the DPRK, stresses the need to break records in our responsive action, proportional or more offensive in its nature,” Kim Yo Jong said.

“Our will to defend our sovereignty will be expressed in clearer action and there will be never ever change in the course of intensifying the nuclear war deterrence,” she added.

The remarks underline the challenge facing any effort to restart high-level talks. Military exercises are viewed by the United States and South Korea as part of their alliance posture, while Pyongyang repeatedly portrays them as preparation for conflict. That disagreement has long made confidence-building efforts difficult.

Trump himself announced in August that he had directed US forces to reduce joint exercises with South Korea, describing them as expensive and saying they conveyed an unnecessarily hostile message to North Korea. In a Truth Social post explaining his decision, Trump also said he had asked Lee whether South Korea wanted to participate in the denuclearisation of Iran.

“While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” Trump wrote.

Seoul rules out combat role in the Middle East

Lee also addressed concerns over South Korea’s possible military involvement in the Middle East, saying Seoul would not send troops or military resources into a role that could draw the country into war.

“There will be no involvement or intervention in the war. We will not deploy troops or military assets in that manner,” Lee said.

He said South Korea would instead undertake only the minimum actions needed to protect its merchant vessels and the shipping routes used for oil. The country relies heavily on maritime trade and energy imports, making the safety of major sea lanes an important national interest even when Seoul seeks to avoid direct participation in a conflict.

South Korea had been considering a possible troop deployment to the Strait of Hormuz, the strategically vital waterway through which substantial oil and gas supplies travel. The strait has remained a focal point of tensions between Washington and Tehran since the Iran war began in late February.

Lee’s position draws a line between defending commercial shipping and entering a wider military confrontation. At the same time, his appeal for dialogue with North Korea reflects Seoul’s effort to manage security pressures in two regions without abandoning diplomacy. Whether a Trump-Kim meeting can be arranged remains uncertain, but Lee has made clear that his government believes the possibility is worth pursuing.