South Korea’s Lee urges sanctions relief in exchange for North Korean nuclear freeze

South Korea’s president urges sanctions relief for a North Korea nuclear freeze, arguing talks offer the best chance to curb Pyongyang’s arsenal. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung boards a plane from Seoul Air Base to Canada for the G7 summit on June 16, 2025. (Lee Jae Myung) South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is urging Washington to ease sanctions on North Korea in exchange for freezing its nuclear and missile programs, an approach one North Korea expert called the “least bad option” for slowing the expansion of Pyongyang’s arsenal. Lee said in an interview published Monday in the New York Times that there is “significant value in a trade-off between sanctions” and efforts to halt the North’s development of additional nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

He argued that sanctions are not “particularly effective” and that insisting on denuclearization before making progress “guarantees that nothing will be accomplished,” according to the Times. Lee also said President Donald Trump is the only leader capable of bringing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un back to negotiations. Trump told reporters last month that Kim had responded “very positively” to his overtures for dialogue. Trump said Aug. 19 that he planned to meet Kim later this year. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Trump was seeking a face-to-face meeting with Kim during an