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Lee says he considered apology for handling of anti-North leaflet issue but feared political attacks

Published: 03 Dec. 2025, 12:06 Updated: 03 Dec. 2025, 17:45

SHIN MIN-HEE
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Korean President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a news conference to mark the first anniversary of the Dec. 3 martial law crisis at the Blue House in central Seoul on Dec. 3. [AP/YONHAP]

President Lee Jae Myung said on Wednesday that he has considered making a state-level apology for the handling of anti-North Korean leaflet launches during the previous administration. He said he had avoided speaking openly about the issue because he feared it would fuel political attacks.

“I worried it would become a tool for ideological confrontation,” Lee said at a foreign media news conference held at the Blue House in Jongno District, central Seoul, titled “A Renewed Democracy: One Year On,” where he praised Korea’s “democratic resilience” and reflected on the “citizens’ revolution that fought against a military coup.”

The comments were made to answer a question from a foreign reporter regarding the leaflet launches.

“In a way, I’m glad you asked,” he said. The president then added that he was hesitant to elaborate further, fearing that further commentary “might spark ideological conflict or accusations of being pro-North.”

Lee also said that “communication [with North Korea] is completely cut off” and that the northern neighbor “keeps refusing our efforts to talk.”

He added that he is willing to look into the issue of South Korea-U.S. combined exercises, which North Korea has continuously condemned, to “help create grounds for dialogue with North Korea.”

When asked about his relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, Lee said that he “finds it fun and interesting to talk to him,” describing Trump as “realistic, pragmatic and good at making deals.”

Lee called the recent deal with Trump on nuclear-propelled submarines a “major achievement,” but that building them in the United States is “realistically difficult.”

“Building the nuclear-propelled submarines in South Korea would be better for production costs and time,” he said. “We didn’t ask the United States for their construction technology; we asked for their fuel.”

Korean President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a news conference to mark the first anniversary of the Dec. 3 martial law crisis at the Blue House in central Seoul on Dec. 3. [AP/YONHAP]

On China, Lee said he looked forward to a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the future.

Lee reaffirmed his stance toward achieving denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

Throughout the press conference, Lee praised “K-democracy,” a word that Lee said he coined himself.

“South Korean democracy is special,” Lee said. “It’s peaceful, based on collective intelligence, and it’s direct. The people take matters into their own hands. It’s beautiful, because it’s not violent and people do not give up [...] It’s why I believe the Nobel Peace Prize should be given to the South Korean public.”

Lee said he has no immediate plans to “fundamentally reform the inheritance tax system" in South Korea.

On Russia, Lee said that “ties are important” and that he will “continue to try and patch relations through communicating and cooperation” but that South Korea has already joined sanctions on Russia in the wake of the Ukraine War.

“It’s true that Russia-North Korean relations are progressing in a way that’s not good for us,” Lee said. “But we cannot give up. We must keep trying.”

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [[email protected]]