Lee Asks Trump to Lead North Korea Diplomacy

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung asked U.S. President Donald Trump to take the lead in seeking a peaceful resolution of tensions with North Korea during a brief exchange at the Group of Seven (G7) summit on Tuesday, according to Lee’s office.

The two leaders greeted each other during a G7 leaders’ group photo, where Trump inquired about the state of relations with North Korea. Lee asked Trump to lead efforts to resolve the North Korea issue peacefully, as he had done with the war in the Middle East, per Lee's office. Trump responded that he would work to address the North Korea issue.

In a joint statement issued after the summit, G7 leaders expressed “deep concern” about North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and reaffirmed their commitment to the “complete denuclearisation of North Korea in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.” The leaders also urged North Korea to resolve the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang and reiterated the need to jointly address North Korea’s cryptocurrency thefts and cybercrimes.

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held three meetings during Trump’s first term, including a landmark summit in Singapore in 2018, a second summit in Hanoi in 2019, and a meeting later that year at the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas. The diplomacy collapsed after the Hanoi summit failed to produce an agreement on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program and easing US-led sanctions.

Trump has repeatedly signaled interest in reviving direct diplomacy with Kim. He said in August 2025 he looked forward to seeing the North Korean leader “in the appropriate future,” and said in October he would “love” to meet Kim again. Trump last week posted a captionless photo of himself with Kim Jong Un on Truth Social, in an apparent reminder of their past diplomacy.