President Lee and Trump Hold 30-Minute Summit, Agree to Close Communication on Korean Peninsula Peace

President Lee Jae-myung held a roughly 30-minute summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York on Monday (local time), where he traveled to attend the UN General Assembly, and the two agreed to maintain close communication for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Wi Sung-lac, National Security Advisor to President Lee, told a press center in New York that "the South Korean and U.S. leaders held talks for about 30 minutes starting at 7:20 p.m."

Building on the joint fact sheet agreed at the November 2024 South Korea-U.S. summit, the two leaders decided to deepen cooperation and continue follow-up consultations in areas including nuclear submarine fuel issues, enrichment and reprocessing, shipbuilding cooperation, and the transition of wartime operational control.

President Trump reaffirmed his willingness to engage in dialogue with North Korea during the talks, Wi said in a briefing. The security chief said the two leaders, as 'peacemakers and pacemakers,' agreed to open channels of dialogue with Pyongyang and communicate closely to establish lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. In a keynote speech at the UN General Assembly in New York the same day, President Lee proposed a halt to North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, among other steps to create conditions for U.S.-North Korea dialogue and multilateral cooperation among South and North Korea, the United States, and China.

During the summit, President Lee noted that the upcoming U.S.-China summit the following day would be significant for regional dynamics, including South Korea-China relations, and wished for its success.