Seoul Says Trump Is Ready to Take Up North Korea's Nuclear Program

South Korea's president said United States President Donald Trump is prepared to engage on North Korea's nuclear program, according to the Russian outlet RBC. In his account, the American leader is open to an approach whose first step would be halting further development of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs rather than demanding immediate disarmament.

The framing matters. A freeze-first approach would mark a departure from the longstanding United States demand for complete denuclearization as a precondition for relief, and would resemble the sequencing now being attempted with Iran. It also places the initiative with Seoul and Washington at a moment when East Asian governments are expanding their own militaries.

The signal arrives against a sharpening regional arms race, with Japan and its neighbors increasing defense spending and weapons exports as maritime confrontations with China multiply. Any move toward talks with Pyongyang would reshape the security calculations driving that buildup.