Seoul Gazette - South Korea should not give up on North's denuclearisation: president

Lee made the remark at a press conference marking his first year in office, which he took after months of political upheaval triggered by his predecessor's martial law declaration.

"We should not give up on the goal of denuclearisation because we cannot pursue nuclear armament ourselves," he said.

Xi makes the trip to the North after hosting US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin separately in Beijing recently and as North Korea's nuclear talks with Washington remain deadlocked.

China, Washington's chief geopolitical rival, has been North Korea's main trading partner and a key source of diplomatic and economic support for the country, hit by multiple international sanctions.

The White House said last month that Xi and Trump "confirmed their shared goal to denuclearise North Korea" during their summit in Beijing.

However, leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister said on the eve of Xi's arrival that North Korea's nuclear weapons programme was "the line of no retreat".

Lee said Seoul should not seek to acquire atomic weapons to counter Pyongyang's nuclear drive because of potential domino effects in the region.

"If South Korea were to pursue nuclear armament, do you really think Japan would stand still? Or Taiwan?" he said.

"Everyone would end up going nuclear, and the entire region would turn into a nuclear flashpoint."

He said given South Korea's heavy reliance on exports, they could not withstand severe global sanctions for attempting to go nuclear in violation of international rules.

"We simply cannot afford to become like North Korea," he said. "We cannot survive under such sanctions."

On denuclearisation talks with Pyongyang, Lee said the country should first set "limited short-term goals", such as securing a moratorium on further production of nuclear materials.

W.Nam--SG