South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said that during his visit to Washington he discussed with his US counterpart Donald Trump the modernization of the alliance between the two countries, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
He added that Seoul would increase its defense budget to transform the country's armed forces into a "modernized army" that would be successful in the wars of the future.
The South Korean president said that the Korean Peninsula has become more unstable in recent years, while Pyongyang continues to develop its nuclear program and is "in the final stages of development" of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
"The facts are that the number of nuclear weapons North Korea has has increased 2.5 times in the last three to four years," Yi said during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies after meeting with Trump at the White House. "And their ability to produce nuclear material has increased significantly", he added.
According to him, Pyongyang has reached a stage where it can produce up to 10-20 nuclear missiles a year.
The balance between South Korea's conventional weapons and North Korea's nuclear weapons is deteriorating, Yi noted, but acknowledged that the problem cannot be solved by putting pressure on Pyongyang alone.
The South Korean president said that during his meeting with Trump, they agreed that Seoul would work closely to ensure peace on the Korean Peninsula, and that South Korea should play a leading role in maintaining security in the region.
During the meeting, the two leaders also discussed economic cooperation between the two countries.
South Korean companies will invest about $150 billion in the United States, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing a business group "Federation of Korean Industries".
"My meeting with President Trump exceeded my expectations. We had a good conversation, we raised the level of mutual understanding", said Lee after the meeting and specified that the talks at the White House lasted longer than planned.
The administration of the President of South Korea feared that the situation that happened with Volodymyr Zelensky during his meeting with Trump in February could be repeated with him, after a few hours before the summit Donald Trump published a "threatening post" on social networks about "cleansing" in South Korea, and at the meeting itself the American leader mentioned searches at American bases, TASS notes.
"My administration was afraid that we could repeat the fate of Zelensky", said Lee Jae-myung. "But I knew I wouldn't be in that situation because I read Trump's book, "The Art of the Deal," he added, explaining that he had taken the US president's statements as a negotiating tactic.
Earlier last night, Trump said he wanted to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this year and was ready to continue trade talks with South Korea, despite fresh criticism of his South Korean counterpart, Reuters reported.
"I want to meet with him this year," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office at the White House, where he hosted South Korean President Lee Jae-myeon. "I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong-un at an appropriate time in the future," he added.
The US and South Korean leaders met amid strained relations between the two countries. Trump had earlier posted vague complaints on social media about a "purge or revolution" in South Korea, but later backtracked on his comments, describing them as a possible "misunderstanding." between allies.
Despite a trade deal in July that spared South Korean exports from tougher U.S. tariffs, the two countries remain at loggerheads over nuclear energy, military spending and the details of a trade deal that included a promised $350 billion in South Korean investment in the United States.
North Korea's rhetoric, on the other hand, has intensified after Kim vowed to accelerate his nuclear program and condemned joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Over the weekend, the North Korean leader oversaw the launch of new air defense missiles.
Since the US president took office in January, Kim has ignored Trump's repeated calls to resume direct diplomacy from his first term (2017-2021), which then failed to produce a deal to end Pyongyang's nuclear program.
North Korea said the joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea prove Washington's intention to "occupy the Korean Peninsula" and are aimed at enemy countries of Washington and Seoul in the region, Reuters reported, citing North Korean state media.
"If they continue to hold military exercises, they will surely face an unpleasant situation and pay a heavy price," Kim Yong-bok, first vice chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, was quoted as saying by state media KCNA.
He did not mention in his statement today's meeting between South Korean President Lee Jae-myeon and his US counterpart Donald Trump, Reuters noted.