Overview

• Lee’s plan centers on Exchange, Normalization and Denuclearization to replace confrontation with peaceful coexistence and shared growth on the Korean Peninsula.
• Seoul suspended loudspeaker broadcasts and leaflet launches, reaffirmed respect for the North’s system, and vowed not to seek unification by absorption or pursue hostile acts.
• Calling denuclearization a long-term task, Lee urged a phased approach of stop, reduction and dismantlement, even as Pyongyang rejects talks with Seoul and rules out giving up its arsenal.
• Kim Jong Un signaled conditional openness to engage Washington if denuclearization demands are dropped, while Trump earlier voiced interest in meeting Kim but did not address North Korea in his U.N. speech.
• On the sidelines, Lee pressed U.S. lawmakers after the Georgia raid that detained 316 Korean workers and discussed the stalled Partner with Korea Act to create an E-4 visa category, and he is set to chair a U.N. Security Council debate on responsible AI.