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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/21\/world\/asia\/south-korea-president-interview-sanctions-trump-north-korea.html?emc=edit_nn_20260922&nl=the-morning&segment_id=226865",
    "parsed_content": "Trump AdministrationN.I.H. GrantsGreenland DealDefense of A.I.Voting by MailApproval Rating\u200bUrging Pivot on North Korea, South\u2019s Leader Calls for Easing SanctionsPresident Trump should demand that North Korea freeze, not eliminate, its nuclear weapons program, President Lee Jae Myung said in an interview.President Lee Jae Myung spoke with The New York Times for about 70 minutes at the Blue House, the presidential compound in Seoul.Credit...Chang W. Lee\/The New York Times\u200bUrging Pivot on North Korea, South\u2019s Leader Calls for Easing SanctionsPresident Trump should demand that North Korea freeze, not eliminate, its nuclear weapons program, President Lee Jae Myung said in an interview.President Lee Jae Myung spoke with The New York Times for about 70 minutes at the Blue House, the presidential compound in Seoul.Credit...Chang W. Lee\/The New York TimesSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTListen \u00b7 7:56 min Share full articleBy Choe Sang-HunReporting from SeoulSept. 21, 2026Breaking with decades of policy on North Korea, the president of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, is now urging the United States to ease sanctions on Pyongyang in exchange for an agreement that it freeze its weapons programs.\u201cI believe there is significant value in a trade-off between sanctions \u2014 which are not particularly effective anyway \u2014 and a stop to the development of additional nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile technology,\u201d Mr. Lee said in an interview with The New York Times on Friday.However unpalatable such a bargain may seem, the world has no realistic alternative, Mr. Lee argued. North Korea is increasingly brandishing its nuclear missiles against the South. It is no longer the isolated pariah that Washington has tried to tame through a mix of pressure and dialogue as the wars in Ukraine and Iran have altered the geopolitical landscape.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTBoth Russia and China have re-embraced North Korea as a strategic partner, particularly after the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, deployed troops and weapons to support Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That conflict, alongside American strikes in Iran, has only strengthened North Korea\u2019s resolve to expand its nuclear deterrent.ImageNorth Korea\u2019s leader, Kim Jong-un, has been courted by his counterparts in Russia and China. Last year, he attended a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing with Russia\u2019s Vladimir V. Putin and China\u2019s Xi Jinping.Credit...Rao Aimin\/Xinhua, via Associated PressStill, Mr. Lee believes that President Trump is the only leader capable of drawing Mr. Kim back to the negotiating table. South Korean officials say Mr. Trump represents the North Korean leader\u2019s best opportunity to sign a peace treaty for the Korean War, which never formally ended, and normalize relations with Washington.Some analysts warn it is na\u00efve to expect the two leaders to forge a substantial deal, but Mr. Lee asked what option is left but diplomacy.\u201cAiming for denuclearization under the current circumstances,\u201d Mr. Lee warned, \u201cguarantees that nothing will be accomplished.\u201dOnce a freeze is secured, he envisions building trust through reciprocal incentives and concessions to eventually convince the North to reduce its nuclear arsenal. The ultimate goal would be to create an environment where Pyongyang feels secure enough to survive without nuclear weapons.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThis week, Mr. Lee will visit New York, where he will present his vision for peace and coexistence on the Korean Peninsula to the United Nations.Want to stay updated on what\u2019s happening in East Asia and Eastern Europe? Sign up for Your Places: Global Update, and we\u2019ll send our latest coverage to your inbox.Mr. Lee spoke with The Times for about 70 minutes at the House of Eternal Spring, a tile-roofed banquet hall nestled within the Blue House compound, the traditional seat of the South Korean presidency. His predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative, moved the presidential office to the Defense Ministry headquarters before declaring martial law two years ago, starting a turbulent political period that ended in his impeachment and imprisonment.Mr. Lee\u2019s decision to return the presidency to the Blue House upon his inauguration 15 months ago was meant to signal a return to normalcy. During a recent university graduation, he posed for selfies with students \u2014 a stark contrast to Mr. Yoon, whose bodyguards tackled and gagged a student protester two years earlier.ImageMr. Lee at the Blue House on Friday. During his term, he has faced political challenges both at home and abroad.Credit...Chang W. Lee\/The New York TimesBut Mr. Lee, 61, is facing his own problems. His approval ratings have nearly halved since April as many South Koreans blame his government for soaring home prices and a recent stock market crash\u200b.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTHe also faces mounting pressure from Mr. Trump, who recently called him ungrateful for refusing to back the American war against Iran. During the interview, Mr. Lee defended his stance on Iran, saying that South Korea\u2019s Constitution barred him from deploying troops to a war already underway between foreign countries.The South Korean president is also seeking to defuse trade tensions with Mr. Trump. South Korean negotiators are racing to implement a deal struck between the two leaders last fall, in which Seoul agreed to invest $350 billion in the United States in exchange for lower tariffs on South Korean products.To placate Mr. Trump, South Korea may offer to build a gas power plant in Texas and eight nuclear power plants across the United States, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Lee insisted he was unfazed by Mr. Trump\u2019s criticisms. \u201cI fully understand that from his perspective, the U.S. president may make various remarks,\u201d he said. Mr. Lee hopes to leverage Mr. Trump\u2019s enduring fascination with the North Korean dictator to convince the U.S. leader to restart stalled talks and de-escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTImagePresident Trump\u2019s personal diplomacy with Mr. Kim, including a 2019 meeting when he stepped into North Korea, did not yield any results.Credit...Erin Schaff\/The New York TimesMr. Lee hopes dialogue between North Korea and the United States would improve his own nation\u2019s relations with its neighbor to the north, which have deteriorated in recent years. North Korea has demolished roads and railways that once linked the two Koreas while also adding minefields and other barriers along their already heavily fortified border.By contrast, North Korea is moving closer to both Moscow and Beijing\u200b. After supporting Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, the North has opened a bridge along its border with Russia and is about to open another one with China.\u200bThe collapse of inter-Korean communication has eliminated South Korea\u2019s ability to serve as a mediator between Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump, a role Seoul played in helping arrange three summit meetings during Mr. Trump\u2019s first term.\u200b Those meetings ended without agreement on \u200bdenuclearizing North Korea.Backed by Russia and China and buoyed by renewed economic growth, Mr. Kim is no longer as desperate for a deal with Mr. Trump and now possesses greater leverage to demand more favorable terms\u200b, analysts have said.\u200b Still, Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to revive his personal diplomacy with Mr. Kim, often boasting of their \u201cvery good relationship.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTLast month, Mr. Trump unilaterally scaled back a major annual joint military exercise with South Korea, describing it as \u201chostile\u201d toward Mr. Kim. North Korea, for its part, said that Mr. Kim retained \u201cgood memories and feelings about Trump\u201d from their previous meetings.ImageFor decades, the United States and South Korea have conducted joint military exercises like this one in August in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with the North. Last month, Mr. Trump unilaterally scaled back a major drill.Credit...Ahn Young-Joon\/Associated PressMr. Lee is not alone in calling for a change in strategy to revive talks with the North. At a forum in South Korea last week\u200b, Stephen E. Biegun, who led U.S. negotiations with North Korea during Mr. Trump\u2019s first term, said the United States could negotiate a \u201cslowing or freezing\u201d of North Korea\u2019s nuclear arsenal.\u200bOthers are more skeptical about a breakthrough. Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the Seoul-based Sejong Institute, cautioned that Mr. Trump may be more interested in creating a diplomatic spectacle with Mr. Kim, such as a surprise visit to Pyongyang, to divert public attention from the prolonged war with Iran. Nor would achieving a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula be Mr. Kim\u2019s main concern, he said.Mr. Lee says the current stalemate in relations is simply too risky to be allowed to continue, as North Korea is steadily expanding its nuclear arsenal.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cOur estimates suggest that North Korea is now capable of producing, or may already be producing, an additional 10 to 20 nuclear weapons each year,\u201d Mr. Lee said. \u201cOnce it believes it has accumulated enough nuclear weapons and missiles to guarantee its survival, it will be tempted to export them to make money.\u201d\u201cThat will be a truly dangerous moment,\u201d he said.ImageMr. Lee at the House of Eternal Spring, a tile-roofed banquet hall within the Blue House compound.Credit...Chang W. Lee\/The New York TimesAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-22T00:30:11+00:00",
    "author_name": "Choe Sang-Hun",
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    "ai_headline": "Urging Pivot on North Korea, South\u2019s Leader Calls for Easing Sanctions",
    "ai_simplified_title": "South Korea President Urges Easing North Korea Sanctions",
    "ai_excerpt": "South Korean President Lee Jae Myung advocates for easing sanctions on North Korea in exchange for a freeze on its nuclear program, arguing that current denuclearization efforts are ineffective. He believes this approach is the only realistic path to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.",
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