South Korean President Lee Jae Myung proposes a halt to Pyongyang’s nuclear programme in exchange for ‘compensation’.
Published On 7 Jan 2026
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has said he has asked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to play a mediation role as his government seeks to improve relations with the North and restart talks over its nuclear programme.
Speaking in Shanghai on Wednesday, at the end of a four-day state visit to China, Lee proposed a freeze in Pyongyang’s nuclear programme in exchange for “compensation or some form of return”.
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“Just stopping at the current level – no additional production of nuclear weapons, no transfer of nuclear materials abroad, and no further development of ICBMs – would already be a gain,” Lee told journalists following meetings with top Chinese officials, including his second meeting with Xi in two months.
“If that stage is achieved, then in the medium term we can move toward gradual reduction,” Lee added. “In the long term, we must not give up the goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.”
Lee was speaking to reporters on the final day of his trip, which was the first state visit by a South Korean leader to China in six years.
The visit aimed to reset relations between the countries following a rocky period in recent years due to a dispute over the deployment in South Korea of a United States missile defence system in 2017.
Lee told reporters that much progress had been made in restoring trust and that he had told Xi he would “like China to play a mediating role on issues related to the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea’s nuclear programme”.
“All our channels are completely blocked,” Lee said. “We hope China can serve as … a mediator for peace.”
Xi had urged Seoul to show “patience” in its dealings with Pyongyang, given how fraught ties between the two Koreas have become, Lee added.
“And they’re right. For quite a long period, we carried out military actions that North Korea would have perceived as threatening,” Lee said.
South Korea’s ousted former President Yoon Suk-yeol has been indicted for allegedly trying to provoke military aggression from North Korea in a bid to help him consolidate power.
On Monday, Pyongyang confirmed it had carried out test flights of hypersonic missiles, with leader Kim Jong Un saying it was important to “expand the … nuclear deterrent” in light of “the recent geopolitical crisis” – an apparent reference to Washington’s attacks on Venezuela and its abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.