S. Korea to Accept Trump-Kim Deal to Freeze Nuclear Program: BBC

South Korea’s president has said he would agree to a deal between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in which North Korea freezes production of its nuclear weapons, rather than dismantling them, Jean Mackenzie reported for BBC News.

The nuclear talks collapsed in 2019 during Trump’s first term after the U.S. demanded that the North dismantle its nuclear facilities. (Photo: Stefan Krasowski Wikimedia Commons) 

Lee Jae Myung told the BBC that North Korea was producing an additional 15–20 nuclear weapons a year and that a freeze—as “an interim emergency measure”—would be “a feasible, realistic alternative” to full denuclearization for now.

North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2022 and vowed never to relinquish its weapons.

“So long as we do not give up on the long-term goal of denuclearization, I believe there are clear benefits to having North Korea stop its nuclear and missile development,” Lee said.

“The question is whether we persist with fruitless attempts toward the ultimate goal [of denuclearization] or set more realistic goals and achieve some of them,” he added.

President Lee, who entered office in June, seeks to establish peaceful relations with North Korea and reduce tensions that flared under his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached last year after trying to impose martial law.

The South Korean leader has been vocal about urging President Trump to resume nuclear talks with Kim, which collapsed in 2019 during Trump’s first term after the U.S. demanded that the North dismantle its nuclear facilities.

In a speech to parliament on Sunday, Kim suggested he would be willing to negotiate with Trump—but only if the U.S. dropped its demand for North Korea to denuclearize.