Lee Jae-myung, the president, said on the 19th that U.S. President Donald Trump has the willingness to talk with Kim Jong-un, the chairman of North Korea's State Affairs Commission. He also said Trump agreed with the view that denuclearizing North Korea is difficult under the current sanctions approach.
At a briefing on the results of his trip to Europe and the Group of Seven (G7) held at the Chunchugwan press center at the Blue House on the afternoon of the same day, Lee said, "During the leaders' group photo, President Trump first asked how the North Korea issue was going," and "He said it was regrettable that we had not taken feasible steps before North Korea actually obtained nuclear weapons."
Lee said, "President Trump now has the idea that he should talk with Chairperson Kim Jong-un," and "He is frustrated about the specific methods and even asked about ways to proceed."
Lee said, "Because of the Ukraine war, Russia and North Korea have engaged in military cooperation, undermining the effectiveness of sanctions on the North," and "It is time to negotiate a halt to additional development of nuclear material and additional development of missiles. I said it is in our interest to prevent further proliferation, and he (President Trump) agreed on that point."
Lee also mentioned wartime operational control and defense cost sharing. He said, "Since the U.S. presidential election, there has been no discussion at all about defense cost sharing, and we promised to increase the defense budget to 3.5% and first said that we would take responsibility for defending the Korean Peninsula ourselves," and added, "If we pay our own money and take responsibility for our own defense, why does the United States hold wartime operational control?"
Lee added, "When President Trump said there are 45,000 U.S. troops in Korea, I confirmed that it is now 28,500."