South Korean president seeks easing of sanctions on North Korea

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung has called for easing sanctions on North Korea to "stop” Pyongyang from further developing its nuclear program.

“I believe there is significant value in a trade-off between sanctions -- which are not particularly effective anyway -- and a stop to the development of additional nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile technology,” Lee told The New York Times in an interview.

The interview published early Tuesday comes ahead of Lee’s scheduled address to the UN General Assembly in New York.

However unpalatable such a bargain may seem, the world has no realistic alternative, Lee said, warning: “Aiming for denuclearization under the current circumstances guarantees that nothing will be accomplished.”

Lee said he believes that US President Donald Trump “is the only leader capable of drawing” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “back to the negotiating table.”

The interview conducted last week on Friday came after Trump last month cut short an annual joint military drill between the US and South Korea, aiming to entice Kim to resume dialogue.

The US has deployed some 39,000 American troops on the Korean Peninsula under a mutual defense treaty with South Korea, according to Trump.

Top diplomats of the US, Japan, and South Korea met in New York on Monday, where they stressed the denuclearization of North Korea, noted that the “path to dialogue remains open," and called on Pyongyang to “resume dialogue.”

North Korea has been one of the most sanctioned nations in the world due to its nuclear program since it first held tests in 2006.

Pyongyang has doubled down on its “nuclear status” which it says is “irreversible.”

“Our estimates suggest that North Korea is now capable of producing, or may already be producing, an additional 10 to 20 nuclear weapons each year,” Lee told the US newspaper. “Once it believes it has accumulated enough nuclear weapons and missiles to guarantee its survival, it will be tempted to export them to make money.”

“That will be a truly dangerous moment,” the South Korean president warned.