South Korea's Lee to urge US-North Korea talks at Trump summit

Hyonhee Shin, Bloomberg News on Aug 22, 2025

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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will press Donald Trump to reopen the stalled dialogue with North Korea when he holds his first summit with the U.S. president next week, his top aide said.

Lee will travel to the U.S. on a three-day trip starting Sunday for his first high-stakes meeting with Trump, during which he will follow up on a recently signed trade deal and discuss other economic and security issues.

While trade and defense issues top their agenda, Lee will ask Trump to take steps to rebuild trust with North Korea, Lee’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said. Lee will also visit Japan on Saturday.

Tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula despite Lee’s efforts since coming to power in June to thaw inter-Korean ties. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed “rapid expansion” of his country’s nuclear weapons program, and his sister this week said Lee is “not the sort of man who will change the course of history” and there is no role for Seoul to play in regional diplomacy.

But Lee’s administration will keep trying to defuse tension with Pyongyang and call on Washington to do the same, Wi said.

“I hope a similar process of building trust and dialogue will take place between the U.S. and North Korea, which we can discuss at the summit,” Wi said at a briefing. “We’re encouraging this, though North Korea’s position is extremely rigid and it’s difficult to expect any new developments in the short term.”

Trump and Kim met in person three times during the U.S. president’s first term, but those interactions failed to convince Kim to curb the development of his nuclear weapons program.

North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats and increasing military cooperation with Russia, as well as a U.S.-China rivalry, have boosted the need to reinforce and modernize the South Korea-U.S. alliance, Wi said.

Seoul is willing to contribute more to strengthening military capabilities, and the allies are discussing higher defense spending, he said, noting that NATO members are pledging to raise their defense outlay. Wi said it’s “too early” to give any numbers.

Trump has been urging allies to increase their defense spending, calling South Korea a “money machine” and previously demanding an increase in its annual contribution from about $1 billion to $5 billion to host 28,500 American troops, a presence aimed at deterring threats from the North.

Another topic on the agenda is amendment of a civilian nuclear energy pact with the U.S. to lift limits on Seoul’s ability to enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel, Wi said.

South Korea is currently banned from those activities under the accord, last revised in 2015 and due to expire in 2035. The Korean accord contrasts with Washington’s deal with Japan, which permits reprocessing thanks to Tokyo’s long nonproliferation record and advanced industry.