Anchor: President Lee Jae Myung departed Seoul on Monday to make his first United Nations appearance at the 80th session of the General Assembly in New York. Lee will deliver a keynote address declaring the return of a democratic South Korea. He is also set to make history as the first Korean president to chair an open debate of the UN Security Council, where global peace and security issues will take center stage.
Rosyn Park has more.

Reporter: President Lee Jae Myung is headed to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, where he will deliver a keynote address on Tuesday to underscore the return of a democratic South Korea, following the failed December 3 martial law declaration that rocked the country. Lee also plans to outline his government's foreign policy vision and address security on the Korean Peninsula.

On Wednesday, Lee will become the first South Korean head of state to preside over a UN Security Council open debate, which will center on AI, global peace and security, potentially including matters related to North Korea's nuclear status.

In an interview with the BBC ahead of his five-day diplomatic trip, Lee expressed an openness to deterring Pyongyang's nuclear development through “more realistic goals.”

He said he hoped U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could achieve denuclearization if they were to resume diplomacy but acknowledged that doing so would not be easy.

Lee said a temporary freeze of Pyongyang's nuclear program would be a "feasible, realistic alternative" to denuclearization, provided that it were presented as "an interim emergency measure" rather than the end of the road. The president acknowledged that North Korea has been producing an additional 15-20 nuclear weapons a year.

Even before entering office in June, Lee advocated for peaceful relations with Pyongyang.

He has also stated that he would like Trump and Kim to resume discussions that broke down in 2019 during Trump's first term after the two leaders failed to reach an agreement on sanctions relief and denuclearization.

At that time, North Korea offered partial denuclearization in exchange for the lifting of all U.S. sanctions, which Washington refused.

Lee said he thinks it is possible that Trump and Kim could meet again, given the two leaders' "degree of mutual trust," which he said could benefit South Korea as well as global peace and security.
Rosyn Park, KBS World Radio News.