Korea must not remain a bystander on the North Korean nuclear issue

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Korea must not remain a bystander on the North Korean nuclear issue

Published: 23 Sep. 2025, 00:00

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

President Lee Jae Myung and First Lady Kim Hea Kyung board Air Force One at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam on Sept. 22 to depart for the United Nations General Assembly. [YONHAP]

President Lee Jae Myung described a freeze on North Korea’s nuclear program as “a kind of provisional emergency measure” and “a feasible, realistic alternative” in a recent interview with the BBC. He reiterated the three-step roadmap for denuclearization — freeze, reduction, dismantlement — that he first outlined to Japanese media last month. Lee is expected to emphasize the same approach in his keynote speech to the 80th United Nations General Assembly early on Wednesday.

Halting Pyongyang’s advancing nuclear capabilities is indeed urgent. North Korea already possesses the three key components of a nuclear arsenal: fissile material such as highly enriched uranium and plutonium, triggering devices and intercontinental ballistic missiles. It appears poised to begin mass production of warheads. In that context, Lee’s idea of gaining time through a freeze carries some logic.

Yet a freeze without inspections and verification risks signaling de facto acceptance of North Korea as a nuclear state. That would strain U.S.-South Korea cooperation and complicate diplomacy. While Seoul is constrained to conventional weapons, Pyongyang could pursue a “nuclear slave strategy,” attempting to coerce Korea through threats. Chairman Kim Jong-un underscored the danger when he warned at the Supreme People’s Assembly that if North Korea activated its “second mission” of nuclear retaliation, military organizations and infrastructure in South Korea and allied countries could be annihilated instantly. The government must plan militarily on the assumption that North Korea possesses nuclear weapons, while maintaining diplomacy focused on eventual denuclearization.

Kim also said he holds “good memories” of President Donald Trump and that he saw no reason to avoid talks with Washington if he abandoned the “obsession with denuclearization.” Trump, at the Aug. 25 summit, stated that he hoped to meet Kim later this year. Seoul must be wary of a scenario in which Washington and Pyongyang negotiate without Seoul’s participation.

Lee told the BBC that if Trump and Kim agreed to freeze production rather than remove weapons, South Korea could accept it. But Seoul cannot remain a bystander. The “emergency measure” of a freeze cannot become the final goal. A detailed roadmap from freeze to reduction and dismantlement must be prepared, and Korea, as a direct stakeholder, must not be excluded. Strong U.S.-South Korea coordination is essential.

As president of the UN Security Council this month, South Korea should amplify its voice in New York and use next month’s APEC summit in Gyeongju to push forward efforts on the North Korean nuclear issue.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.