South Korea’s president has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to help him make peace with North Korea, “just as he has resolved the conflict in the Middle East,” Lee Jae Myung’s office said on June 17.
The United States and Iran are set to sign a memorandum of understanding tomorrow to end their war, and there has been speculation that the Trump administration may then turn its attention to North Korea.
Trump fueled that interest shortly after announcing the Iran deal, posting on social media an uncaptioned photograph of himself with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their 2018 Singapore summit.
Trump asked Lee about developments in inter-Korean relations during an exchange at the G7 summit in France, Seoul’s presidential office said in a statement on June 17.
During the conversation, “President Lee requested that he [Trump] take the lead in achieving a peaceful resolution to the North Korean issue, just as he has resolved the conflict in the Middle East,” it added.
“President Trump expressed his commitment to working toward a resolution of the North Korean issue.”
Lee has taken a dovish approach towards North Korea, in contrast to his more hardline predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol.
But Pyongyang has rejected his overtures, formally labeling Seoul its “most hostile” enemy and repeatedly declaring itself an “irreversible” nuclear state.
North Korea experts say the chances of a meeting between Kim and Trump is low.
Kim has sought to enhance his standing with his other neighbors, for example sending troops and munitions to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine.
