Roh proposes economic bloc with N Korea
Saturday, 18 August 2007
Anna Fifield in Seoul
South Korea will seek North Korea's agreement to start creating a joint economic community when the divided peninsula's leaders meet in Pyongyang later this month in a summit that is being billed as a watershed in bilateral relations.
President Roh Moo-hyun will travel from Seoul to Pyongyang on August 28 for talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-il, in what is to be only the second such meeting ever.
Amid continuing multilateral discussions on North Korea's denuclearisation, Mr Roh on Wednesday said the bilateral meeting would pave the way for greater stability on the peninsula by encouraging closer economic ties and building trust and understanding.
However, sceptics say that Mr Kim - whose repressive North Korean state is built on confrontation with South Korea and the rest of the outside world - will be interested only in extracting further financial concessions from Mr Roh.
"I feel we need to start discussing the formation of an inter-Korean economic community," Mr Roh said on Wednesday in a national address marking the 62nd anniversary of the peninsula's liberation from Japan, which had colonised it between 1920 and 1945. The speech was addressed to "fellow citizens" and "North Korean compatriots".
"From now on, the two sides need to develop inter-Korean economic co-operation into productive investment collaboration and into two-way co-operation," said Mr Roh, who favours a "mini Marshall plan" for North Korea.
"In this way, the South will have more investment opportunities, while the North will have a chance to make an economic turnaround," he said.
Mr Roh, who has only six months left in office, has vigorously promoted engagement with Pyongyang to try to build up North Korea's economy and lessen the financial burden of eventual unification on South Korea.
There are now 16,000 North Koreans working in South Korean-owned factories in the Kaesong industrial park on the northern side of the demilitarised zone, a project that is the beacon of inter-Korean co-operation.
Mr Roh on Wednesday asserted that North Korea was changing.
"It is much less leery of the South, exhibiting a pragmatic and flexible stance in channels of inter-Korean dialogue and economic cooperation," he said. "With many North Korean regulations and organisational structures geared toward reform, awareness of the market economy has spread quickly among its citizens."
However, many political analysts remain doubtful about the chances for any tangible progress at this month's summit, based on the lack of reciprocity seen from the 2000 presidents' meeting.
When Kim Dae-jung met Kim Jong-il seven years ago, the South Korean government secretly transferred about $500m in cash - through an affiliate of the Hyundai group - to the North Korean regime, prompting concerns that the regime was interested only in money, not reconciliation.
Although such clandestine payment is unlikely this time, North Korea still stands to benefit substantially from the summit, in line with Mr Roh's talk Wednesday about investment. The North finally agreed to permit an inter-Korean train service test much-wanted by the South earlier this year - in return for $80m worth of raw goods for light industry manufacturing.
At the 2000 summit, the North Korean leader pledged to make a return visit to Seoul, a pledge that has never been fulfilled.
Critics say that Mr Roh, who has been labelled a lame duck president, is seeking the summit to secure his legacy and to bolster the chances of one of his ideological allies winning the presidential election in December. Mr Roh is said to back his close associate and former prime minister, Lee Hae-chan, who went to Pyongyang in March to help arrange this month's summit.
.......................................
FT Syndication Service
South Korea will seek North Korea's agreement to start creating a joint economic community when the divided peninsula's leaders meet in Pyongyang later this month in a summit that is being billed as a watershed in bilateral relations.
President Roh Moo-hyun will travel from Seoul to Pyongyang on August 28 for talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-il, in what is to be only the second such meeting ever.
Amid continuing multilateral discussions on North Korea's denuclearisation, Mr Roh on Wednesday said the bilateral meeting would pave the way for greater stability on the peninsula by encouraging closer economic ties and building trust and understanding.
However, sceptics say that Mr Kim - whose repressive North Korean state is built on confrontation with South Korea and the rest of the outside world - will be interested only in extracting further financial concessions from Mr Roh.
"I feel we need to start discussing the formation of an inter-Korean economic community," Mr Roh said on Wednesday in a national address marking the 62nd anniversary of the peninsula's liberation from Japan, which had colonised it between 1920 and 1945. The speech was addressed to "fellow citizens" and "North Korean compatriots".
"From now on, the two sides need to develop inter-Korean economic co-operation into productive investment collaboration and into two-way co-operation," said Mr Roh, who favours a "mini Marshall plan" for North Korea.
"In this way, the South will have more investment opportunities, while the North will have a chance to make an economic turnaround," he said.
Mr Roh, who has only six months left in office, has vigorously promoted engagement with Pyongyang to try to build up North Korea's economy and lessen the financial burden of eventual unification on South Korea.
There are now 16,000 North Koreans working in South Korean-owned factories in the Kaesong industrial park on the northern side of the demilitarised zone, a project that is the beacon of inter-Korean co-operation.
Mr Roh on Wednesday asserted that North Korea was changing.
"It is much less leery of the South, exhibiting a pragmatic and flexible stance in channels of inter-Korean dialogue and economic cooperation," he said. "With many North Korean regulations and organisational structures geared toward reform, awareness of the market economy has spread quickly among its citizens."
However, many political analysts remain doubtful about the chances for any tangible progress at this month's summit, based on the lack of reciprocity seen from the 2000 presidents' meeting.
When Kim Dae-jung met Kim Jong-il seven years ago, the South Korean government secretly transferred about $500m in cash - through an affiliate of the Hyundai group - to the North Korean regime, prompting concerns that the regime was interested only in money, not reconciliation.
Although such clandestine payment is unlikely this time, North Korea still stands to benefit substantially from the summit, in line with Mr Roh's talk Wednesday about investment. The North finally agreed to permit an inter-Korean train service test much-wanted by the South earlier this year - in return for $80m worth of raw goods for light industry manufacturing.
At the 2000 summit, the North Korean leader pledged to make a return visit to Seoul, a pledge that has never been fulfilled.
Critics say that Mr Roh, who has been labelled a lame duck president, is seeking the summit to secure his legacy and to bolster the chances of one of his ideological allies winning the presidential election in December. Mr Roh is said to back his close associate and former prime minister, Lee Hae-chan, who went to Pyongyang in March to help arrange this month's summit.
.......................................
FT Syndication Service