Lee calls for currency swap, citing US investment size; Seoul backs US-NK talks while reaffirming denuclearization
President Lee Jae Myung started a five-day trip to New York, where he will attend the United Nations General Assembly, a first for him after his inauguration in June, and outline South Korea’s strategy for peace on the Korean Peninsula amid anticipations building towards a talk between Washington and Pyongyang.
Lee’s office has said his speech during the general debate of the 80th UN General Assembly on Tuesday will set out a road map for South Korea’s contribution to achieving global peace and prosperity.
Lee is also likely to double down on his pledge to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and reconcile with North Korea through a three-stage framework for denuclearization — a move to reverse the increase in inter-Korean hostility in recent years.
On Monday, the Korean Central News Agency carried a statement by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that signaled an openness to a meeting with Trump.
Kim said he “personally hold(s) fond memories of the current US president,” adding that he was willing to meet Trump if the US “drops the absurd obsession with denuclearizing us and accepts reality.”
Lee’s office said it is willing to support renewed nuclear talks between North Korea and the US while reaffirming its commitment to denuclearization despite Pyongyang’s call for Washington to drop that objective. An official emphasized that the goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula remains unchanged.
“We will continue efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons,” the official said, adding that the Lee administration respects North Korea’s system and does not seek unification by absorption.
Lee’s trip to New York marks his second visit to the US in a month, following a late-August summit with US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington.
According to the presidential office, Lee was expecting bilateral talks there with at least five leaders on the sidelines of his New York trip, but was not envisioning a meeting with Trump this time.
“The last meeting (between Lee and Trump) was held pretty recently, and they might be holding another one in October,” Lee’s national security aide Wi Sung-lac said, referring to Trump’s announced plan to visit Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.
The summit last month set the stage for an ongoing trade deal to reduce new US tariffs on South Korean goods, including cars, from 25 percent to 15 percent. In return, South Korea agreed to invest $350 billion in US projects at Trump’s discretion.
But a deadlock has followed over how to proceed with what was verbally agreed.
In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Lee said that South Korea could “face a situation as it had in the 1997 financial crisis,” should the trade deal be confirmed without additional measures. One such measure was an unlimited currency swap, which he said was needed, given the level of investment in US projects.
Lee’s presence at the UN General Assembly could also set the tone for the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Gyeongju, as Lee has pledged to serve as a mediator in East Asia geopolitics, as well as work to de-escalate tensions with North Korea.
Lee said in his recent interview with Time Magazine that he would position South Korea as a “bridge” between East and West. Lee also touted himself as a “pacemaker” for Trump’s effort to become a “peacemaker” primarily by spearheading his efforts to engage with North Korean leader Kim.
Against this backdrop, Seoul has welcomed Trump’s announcement that he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time since the Group of 20 meeting in Osaka, Japan, in 2019.
While in the US this week, Lee is to meet US financiers on Wall Street in New York to persuade them of the South Korean stock market’s growth potential.
On Thursday, Lee plans to convene an “investment summit” to request US financiers’ investment in the South Korean stock market.
Korea’s main index, the Kospi, has been on a bull run over the past couple of weeks, and Lee has pledged to bring the Kospi across the 5,000-point threshold, double the level recorded in January this year.
Wi said the Lee administration expected Thursday’s meeting would “resolve the ‘Korea Discount’ and signal the emergence of a ‘Korea Premium,’ further revitalizing the Korean stock market that is on a record run.”
Lee also plans to meet Larry Fink, chief executive officer of US investment firm BlackRock and chair of the World Economic Forum. The presidential office has said the meeting will focus on the transition to artificial intelligence and the energy transition.
Lee is to return to South Korea on Friday.
link
