SEOUL, June 19 (AJP) - Aiming to lower immediate geopolitical pressure on Pyongyang and prevent Washington from enforcing a rigid, all-or-nothing diplomatic denuclearization campaign, President Lee Jae Myung proposed a flexible, phased diplomatic framework to United States President Donald Trump at the Group of Seven summit to manage the North Korean nuclear threat, the South Korean president said during a press briefing on Friday.
The proposal comes as North Korea continues to produce fissile materials and enters the final development stages of an intercontinental ballistic missile. President Lee warned that conventional diplomatic containment is no longer viable because treating a nuclear-armed state like a standard non-nuclear adversary risks escalating regional hostility.
By seeking a step-by-step approach that allows room for pauses and negotiations, South Korea is attempting to carve out a distinct security strategy separate from past Western models used in the Middle East. This calibrated effort to manage alliance friction coincides with a broader diplomatic push by Seoul to mobilize global arbiters like the Vatican and actively contest European economic barriers.
During a press briefing at the presidential Blue House in central Seoul, following his return from a ten-day European tour, the South Korean leader revealed that Trump expressed regret over past international failures to stop Pyongyang before it realistically acquired nuclear weapons. When presented with the step-by-step initiative, Trump responded favorably to the alternative approach.
"That could be one way," Trump said, according to the South Korean leader. "I will fully consider it."
The first phase of the South Korean framework requires North Korea to cap its current nuclear material production, ban the export of fissile resources, and suspend all intercontinental ballistic missile testing. Lee emphasized to the US president that merely stopping these advancements would provide an immediate security benefit to the international community.
Under the proposal, complete denuclearization remains a long-term goal that can be pursued only after mutual security assurances reduce regional threats. However, the South Korean president rejected a direct application of recent American diplomatic templates to the peninsula.
"It is clear that it should not be done in the way the Middle East issue was resolved," the South Korean president said.
The South Korean leader also sought broader global backing for regional peace during his eight-night tour, meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on June 15. Lee Jae-myung requested the pontiff to visit North Korea and the Demilitarized Zone next year during the scheduled World Youth Day in Seoul to help build diplomatic momentum.
According to the president, the pontiff responded that he would "actively consider and pursue" the itinerary to support peace initiatives on the Korean peninsula. Lee Jae-myung noted that the interaction reflected heightened international expectations for the global diplomatic role of South Korea.
On the economic front, the president addressed trade tensions by relaying the firm opposition of South Korea to shifting European Union steel tariff policies that heavily cut into export quotas. He informed European officials that "such measures must not become a barrier to trade."
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