President Lee Jae Myung joined the EU’s leaders in condemning North Korea’s support for Russia’s war with Ukraine
President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea (center) meets with European Council President António Costa (left) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (right) in Brussels, Belgium, on June 10, 2026. (Park Jong-shik/Hankyoreh)
On his visit to Belgium, Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed his commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a summit with EU leaders on Wednesday.“We express grave concern over the DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula,” Lee said in a joint statement released following his summit Wednesday with António Costa, president of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, at the Council of the European Union in Brussels.In their joint statement, Lee and the EU leaders also said they “condemn support by third parties, in particular the DPRK, which enable Russia to sustain its war of aggression against Ukraine” and called on “Russia and the DPRK to immediately cease all such activities.”DPRK is short for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea. Referring to disruptions to commercial shipping resulting from the US and Israel’s war against Iran, Lee and the EU leaders called for “ensuring freedom of navigation and safe transit passage in the Strait of Hormuz, the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and the need for all parties to fully respect international law, including international law of the sea as reflected in the UNCLOS,” referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.On Wednesday morning, Lee held a summit with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and a meeting with King Philippe.By Seo Young-ji, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
