Trump-Lee summit may touch on 3-stage path to denuclearization

President Lee Jae Myung’s three-step blueprint for North Korea’s denuclearization, unveiled just days before his visit to Washington, has fueled speculation that the proposal could be raised in his upcoming talks with U.S. President Donald Trump. Analysts said Lee’s approach suggested that South Korea was seeking to align with Trump’s apparent “small deal” strategy toward the North. But they cautioned that the Kim Jong-un regime, seen as increasingly belligerent, was unlikely to engage in dialogue with Seoul anytime soon. In an interview with Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun published Thursday, Lee said the first stage of his plan for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula would be to freeze North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. “The policy aim is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” he said, responding to a question about concerns that potential U.S.-North Korea talks might involve recognition of Pyongyang’s possession of nuclear weapons. In the second and final stages, Lee said he would seek to reduce and ultimately dismantle the North’s nuclear proWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times