Lee Proposes Phased North Korea Denuclearization Plan

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung proposed a three-step plan to halt, reduce, then dismantle North Korea's nuclear arsenal in Sept. 21 Associated Press and New York Times interviews, before his Tuesday UN General Assembly address. He said political and economic concessions should accompany each verified step, and that trading sanctions that have little real effect for a halt to additional nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile technology has considerable value. Lee said, "To change the direction of a moving car, you first have to bring it to a stop," and warned that if North Korea judges it has secured enough nuclear weapons and missiles to guarantee its own survival, it will be tempted to export them to make money, adding "that will be a truly dangerous moment." He called for Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un to resume face-to-face talks without preconditions. Trump has cited 57 North Korean nuclear weapons; some experts say over 100 warheads. North Korea carried out three rounds of weapons launches after Trump scaled back a major joint exercise with South Korea last month without prior consultation with Seoul. Lee visited Koreatown in New York with first lady Kim Hye-kyung on Sunday. Park Won-gon said the plan risks recognizing a nuclear North, continued threat, and capability gains via sanctions relief, and required roadmaps to end in denuclearization. Lee Kyu-jung said verification design from freeze to dismantlement will determine success or failure.