South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has appealed to Chinese President Xi Jinping for help in restarting dialogue with North Korea, a nation that has recently labeled South Korea its “main enemy” and abandoned its policy of unification.
During a state summit in Gyeongju, Lee told Xi he was “positive” about the conditions for engagement, pointing to recent China-North Korea exchanges. Lee is advocating for a phased denuclearisation plan, starting with a freeze on nuclear development.
The plea for help comes as North Korea has explicitly and repeatedly rejected Lee’s overtures, stating it will “never talk to the South.” On Saturday, Pyongyang underscored this by calling Lee’s entire denuclearisation agenda an “unrealisable pipe dream.”
President Xi, on his first visit to South Korea in 11 years, called Seoul an “inseparable cooperative partner” and signed seven economic agreements.
However, Chinese state media reports on the summit made no mention of the North Korea discussion. A South Korean official said China expressed a willingness to cooperate for peace, but both sides agreed that US-North Korea dialogue was the “most important” path.