The ruling party’s frontrunner for the 2022 presidential election has argued that North Korea sanctions should be lifted but must “snap back” if Pyongyang reneges on its denuclearization promises, in the first major policy statement on North Korea by a top candidate.

The Democratic Party’s Lee Jae-myung, the progressive pro-engagement governor of Gyeonggi Province known for his criticisms of anti-DPRK leaflet activism, has been among the leading candidates in recent polls for South Korea’s upcoming presidential election in March 2022.